CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Sport

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions were held with Sport England on the establishment of the new opportunities fund for sport.

Richard Caborn: I and my officials have held a number of meetings and conducted detailed correspondence with Sport England about the new opportunities for PE and school sport initiative.

Sport

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the (a) start up and (b) operating costs are of the new opportunities fund for sport.

Richard Caborn: The new opportunities school sport initiative is one of 13 programmes operated by the fund in the areas of health, education and the environment. The estimated direct costs for this programme to 31 March 2002 are £767,600 of which £97,600 represents start-up costs. Over the lifetime of its programmes, the new opportunities fund aims to keep its running costs within 5 per cent. of its lottery income.

Sport

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to merge the New Opportunities Fund for Sport organisation with Sport England; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The new opportunities fund is the body designated in the National Lottery Act 1998 to distribute lottery funds to initiatives concerned with health, education and the environment, one of which is the new opportunities for PE and school sport initiative. I have no plans to merge the new opportunities fund with Sport England.

Departmental Assets

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to his answer of 1 November 2001, Official Report, column 802W, on departmental assets, if he will estimate the value of the Government art collection; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: It is not possible to give an accurate estimate of the value of the Government art collection, which, as a non-operational heritage asset, has no current market valuation. The current monetary value of a work of art can be accurately assessed only at the time of its purchase or sale or by professional valuation. The collection is not actively traded, and it would not be a justifiable expenditure of public funds to have the whole collection valued professionally.
	However, from 1 April 2000 additions to the collection have been included at cost in the asset register of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, on the grounds that the purchase price provides a reliable basis for capitalisation. This accounting policy will apply to national museums and galleries and other collections from 1 April 2001. The value of purchased additions to the Government art collection as at 31 March 2001 is £124,000.

TRANSPORT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE REGIONS

Rough Sleepers Unit

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if the Rough Sleepers Unit will compile information about the number of hotel places in major centres of population.

Sally Keeble: The Rough Sleepers Unit already compiles information on the hostel bedspaces that it funds. In addition, local authorities around the country hold information on hostel bedspaces in their area.
	The RSU required local authorities with significant numbers of rough sleepers to assess the provision of hostel accommodation in their areas in order to develop local rough sleeping strategies. This information is held and reviewed locally but has not been compiled centrally by the RSU.
	However, the RSU is now considering its future beyond April 2002 and information on hostel provision will be an important feature of any future work. Therefore such information will be compiled in the new year.
	Under the provisions of the Homelessness Bill, local housing authorities would be expected to review the resources available to the authority and its partners in their periodic homelessness reviews: this should include reviews of hostel and other accommodation available to homeless people.

West Coast Main Line

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on how many occasions in (a) 2001, (b) 2000 and (c) 1999 services on the west coast main line have been disrupted owing to collapse or other failure of the overhead power cables; and what average length of delay has been caused to passenger services as a result.

David Jamieson: The following table from Railtrack shows the disruption to passenger and freight trains on the west coast main line caused by incidents involving overhead lines in 1999, 2000 and 2001. I understand that data are not separately available for passenger services only.
	
		Disruption to WCML caused by incidents involving overhead lines -- 1 April 1999 to mid-October 2001
		
			  Total minutes delay Number of incidents 
		
		
			 1999 67,019 358 
			 2000 64,965 365 
			 2001 111,971 371

London Underground

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he has asked the National Audit Office to evaluate the PPP bids for the London Underground once the final bids have been prepared; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The National Audit Office produced a report into the financial analysis of the London Underground PPPs in December 2000. The NAO has examined the further work London Underground and its advisers are undertaking on the financial analysis of the PPPs, and found that London Underground intends to take the issues raised by the NAO in its earlier report on board. I understand that, while the NAO will continue to monitor the situation, it does not believe that a further report at this stage would be useful.

London Underground

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  what assumptions regarding the cost to the public sector of cost overruns he is planning to include in the guidance for the public sector comparator for assessing the public-private partnership bids for London Underground;
	(2)  what plans he has to make changes to the assumptions underlying the public sector comparator for assessing bids under the public-private partnership for London Underground; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The Government's plans for a publicly run, privately built tube will deliver around £13 billion of investment to improve the underground's infrastructure over the next 15 years. The Secretary of State has made clear that he will only be prepared for these plans to go ahead if he is content that they represent value for money.
	London Underground is carrying out a thorough evaluation of the value for money of bids, guided by the results of a public sector comparator. The detailed assumptions made in this comparator, including those on cost overruns, have been developed by London Underground, assisted by its engineering advisers Ove Arup and its financial advisers PricewaterhouseCoopers. I understand that London Underground, again assisted by its advisers, is currently reviewing the comparator to ensure that it represents a level-playing-field test for evaluating final bids.
	The value for money evaluation of the London Underground PPPs will be made publicly available, but not until London Underground has concluded its negotiations with bidders. To publish the value for money evaluation any earlier would reveal London Underground's negotiating position and so undermine its ability to achieve best value.

London Underground

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what information he collates on the incidence of crime in underground stations.

David Jamieson: This is a matter for the British Transport Police (BTP). The BTP collate all data in relation to incidences of crime on London Underground. They publish annual crime statistics for London Underground, using Home Office guidelines, within their annual report. A Crime and Disorder audit is carried out annually for underground stations and this is also provided to the Government, all boroughs in London and the Crime Director for London. The latest such report will be available very early in the new year.

Motorway Speed Limits

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what representations have been made by the police in the past five years in respect of raising the maximum speed limit on motorways in the UK to 80 mph.

David Jamieson: None.

Area Cost Adjustment

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  what external validation (a) will be and (b) has been applied to the use of New Earnings Survey statistical data used for distribution of the area cost adjustment for 2002–03;
	(2)  what steps he (a) will take and (b) has taken to ensure that small sample sizes in the New Earnings Survey data used for distribution of the area cost adjustment for 2002–03 are within acceptable statistical confidence limits;
	(3)  what criteria he uses to assess the acceptability of statistical confidence limits for data used for distribution of the area cost adjustment for 2002–03;
	(4)  what discussions his Department has had with the Office for National Statistics about the use of the New Earnings Survey in the calculation of the area cost adjustment for 2002–03.

Alan Whitehead: The use of New Earnings Survey (NES) data for the purposes of calculating the area cost adjustment have been the same in every local government finance settlement since 1993–94. Ministers at the time, after extensive discussion with local government, decided that the current methodology was the most appropriate use of the data for distributing grant to local government. When the methodology was developed, there was consideration of sample sizes and whether to base the area cost adjustment on one or two years of NES data.
	We announced on 20 July that we do not intend to change this long established methodology for 2002–03, while we review the grant distribution formulae as a whole in time for 2003–04. We have made careful checks that we are using the NES data in the usual way for 2002–03. This includes confirming that the NES data supplied to us by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are correct, and validating the area cost adjustment calculations by ensuring that at least two members of our grant distribution team independently derive the same results. External validation by those outside Government is not possible because of the need to ensure the confidentiality of those included in the survey.
	We have also been party to discussions between the ONS and the Association of London Government (ALG), who asked the ONS for an explanation of the movements in the data since last year. The ONS reply to the ALG confirms that the data that underpin the area cost adjustment for 2002–03 are correct. The reply is also a helpful contribution to our formula grant review. For example, it has a bearing on whether we should address possible volatility around small samples by using an average of two or three years of NES data for the area cost adjustment. Smoothing the area cost adjustment in this way is one of the options we are currently discussing with local government.

Dry Rot

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent guidance he has given to local councils on the treatment of dry rot and which chemicals are permitted for its treatment.

Alan Whitehead: My Department does not provide local councils with guidance on the treatment of dry rot in timber but refers such inquiries to authoritative sources of information such as the Building Research Establishment and the British Wood Preserving and Damp Proofing Association.
	Chemicals permitted for treatment of dry rot are approved under the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986. The labels of approved pesticidal products will state which of these can be used specifically against dry rot. A list of all approved products is published in "Pesticides 2001"; this annually updated publication can be found in the Research Section of the House of Commons' Library.

Working Time Directive

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the operation of the working time directive in respect of HGV drivers.

David Jamieson: holding answer 6 November 2001
	There are two working time proposals that will affect drivers of large goods vehicles. First, parts of the horizontal amending directive (EC2000/34)—due to be implemented by 1 August 2003—will introduce some changes. Drivers will be subject to the 48 hour average working week, four weeks paid annual leave, health checks for night workers and a provision for adequate rest. As with existing working time legislation, workers will be able to sign an individual opt-out if they want to work longer than the 48 hour average.
	The second proposal concerns mobile workers in the road transport sector and is still subject to negotiation in Brussels. The directive will only apply to drivers of large vehicles who are currently subject to EC drivers' hours rules (EC3820/85). It is clear that there will be no individual opt-out from the 48 hour average working week, but other significant issues have still to be resolved with the European Parliament. Negotiations should be complete by the end of this year, and we expect the new directive will be adopted in early 2002. Implementation in the UK will be in a further two to three years.

Pedestrian Protection

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what (a) proportion of seriously and fatally injured pedestrians received their injuries from being hit by the fronts of cars and (b) the main types of impacts for pedestrian deaths in serious injuries are.

David Jamieson: It is estimated that, in 2000, 53 per cent. of all pedestrians fatally or seriously injured in road accidents received their injuries from being hit by the front of a car.
	73 per cent. of pedestrians suffering fatal or serious injury in 2000 were hit by a car in a single vehicle accident; 19 per cent. were hit by other vehicles (i.e. not cars) in single vehicle accidents; and 8 per cent. were hit in accidents which involved more than one vehicle.

Noise Mitigation

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions when he will publish the timetable for the implementation of the ring-fenced budget for noise mitigation measures.

David Jamieson: The Government's policy of reducing the effects of traffic noise is being implemented through two programmes.
	The Government's "Transport 2010: The 10 Year Plan" gives a commitment to surface at least 60 per cent. of the trunk roads, including all the concrete trunk roads, with quieter materials by 31 March 2011. We have a policy of using quieter surfaces as a matter of course whenever a road needs to be resurfaced and I recently announced the criteria to be used for prioritising the concrete trunk roads to be resurfaced with quieter materials.
	The second programme, with an annual £5 million ring- fenced budget, is to provide noise mitigation measures in the most serious and pressing cases where practical and cost-effective measures can be provided.

Strategic Rail Authority

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions which light rail projects have received support from the Strategic Rail Authority since it was established.

David Jamieson: While it is not for the SRA to support particular light rail projects, they have co-operated with franchise operators and local authorities in furthering the development of light rail schemes for Tyne & Wear Metro, Manchester Metrolink, Nottingham Express Transit and the West Midlands Metro. The SRA are also working to facilitate development of the currently proposed project in Bristol.

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what information he has collated on the number of US states which have banned the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether; and what discussions he has held with his US counterparts in the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether as a petrol additive.

David Jamieson: The Department does not hold details on the use of MTBE in the United States. I understand that the US Federal Government is proposing to reduce significantly or eliminate MTBE in petrol due to public concern about MTBE in groundwater. MTBE is used significantly less in the UK and there is no evidence to indicate that contamination of groundwater presents a significant risk here.

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what his policy is on the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether; what plans he has to review the policy; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: Directive 98/70/EU (enacted by Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 3107) sets a limit of 15 per cent. on ethers containing five or more carbon atoms per molecule—which includes MTBE. For the UK as a whole, usage typically averages less than 0.5 per cent., with most production having none.
	The main risk identified with MTBE, particularly in the USA, is to groundwater. In the UK public consultation has recently finished on a draft groundwater protection code for petrol stations and underground storage tanks to be made under Regulation 21 of the Groundwater Regulations 1998. This will provide advice on what processes/precautions need to be in place at petrol stations and other underground fuel storage areas to ensure protection of groundwater and compliance with the Groundwater Regulations.

Translation Services

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what translation services he ensures are available to local authorities in (a) England and (b) Staffordshire.

Alan Whitehead: No such services are made available centrally to local authorities. It is up to each local authority to provide such services as are necessary in the light of their local circumstances.

Seller's Pack

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to re-introduce legislation to make a seller's pack compulsory.

Sally Keeble: Legislation will be introduced when parliamentary time allows. In the meantime we are pressing ahead, in consultation with consumer representatives and the professional bodies, with developing the detailed contents of the seller's pack.

Aviation Industries

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the airline and aerospace industries.

John Spellar: holding answer 8 November 2001
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by the the Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Mr. Jamieson), on 8 November 2001, Official Report, column 339W.

Central Trains

David Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what proportion of services provided by Central Trains in the last 12 months ran on time.

David Jamieson: Over the last 12 months 72.5 per cent. of services provided by Central Trains ran on time. Services are deemed punctual if they arrive at their destination within five minutes of the timetable.

Council Housing

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many households in (a) council housing and (b) registered social landlord having in each local authority area in London will have target rents set as a consequence of the Government's rent restructuring proposals (i) less than £20 above current rents, (ii) £20 to £30 above current rents and (iii) £30 or more above current rents.

Sally Keeble: The information is not currently available. Social landlords will only have completed their property valuations and calculated their target rents under the reforms around the end of this calendar year.

Overcrowding (Trains)

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the level of overcrowding on trains on routes between Blackpool and Birmingham;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the adequacy of powers to ensure train operating companies take action to address overcrowding on trains.

David Jamieson: No specific assessments have been made but all train operators have a general obligation in their franchise agreements to provide sufficient capacity to avoid excessive crowding. In the Metropolitan areas, Passenger Transport Executives specify overcrowding controls for the services they require. One of the aims of the new franchise policy announced by the Secretary of State in July was to instruct the Strategic Rail Authority to reduce overcrowding and negotiate new franchises or extensions to secure the necessary improvement in capacity.

Empty Homes

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the latest estimate is of (a) the number of empty homes and (b) the number of homeless; and what steps the Government are planning to improve these figures.

Sally Keeble: holding answer 9 November 2001
	From the latest available information it is estimated that there were 763,900 empty residential properties at the beginning of 2000–01. The majority of these are classified as transitional vacancies.
	The number of households accepted by local authorities in England under the homelessness provisions of the 1985 and 1996 Housing Acts as being eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, in the first six months of 2001 was 59,530.
	The Government have introduced a number of measures to reduce the number of empty homes including a reduction in VAT and changes to the way local authorities plan for housing. We will consult shortly on proposals to allow local authorities discretion to remove or reduce the 50 per cent. council tax discount for long-term empty homes.
	Homeless acceptances represent households in need who are helped by local authorities into accommodation. The provisions of the Homelessness Bill will:
	require housing authorities to take a more strategic, multi-agency approach to the prevention of homelessness and the re-housing of homeless households;
	ensure that everyone accepted by housing authorities as unintentionally homeless and in priority need must be provided with suitable accommodation until they obtain a settled housing solution; and
	allow housing authorities greater flexibility to assist non-priority homeless households, principally through a new power for housing authorities to secure accommodation for such households where they have the scope to do so.
	To support these provisions, investment in new affordable housing through the Housing Corporation will rise to over £1.2 billion by 2003–04—about double the current level.
	The Government are currently developing a national strategic framework to help prevent and tackle homelessness throughout the country.

Airport Slots

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to submit proposals to the European Commission in relation to regulations 248/92 and 95/93 governing slot (a) allocation and (b) ring fencing at Heathrow and Gatwick.

David Jamieson: holding answer 9 November 2001
	The Government are currently reviewing whether they should seek to ensure that slots are reserved at London airports for regional services. One possible means of achieving this could be the utilisation of Article 9.1.a of Regulation 95–93. The Government have received a PSO application for the Inverness-Gatwick route from the Scottish Executive and this is under consideration. If the Government decided to impose a PSO, they would need to inform the Commission in accordance with Regulation 2408–92.

Airport Slots

David Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on demand for slots at Heathrow and Gatwick over the next five years.

David Jamieson: holding answer 9 November 2001
	The Department has commissioned the South East and East of England Regional Air Services study (SERAS), which is considering all aspects of airport capacity in the area, having regard to future forecasts of demand. The study is looking up to 30 years ahead. Consideration of demand for runway capacity at Heathrow and Gatwick forms part of the work.
	We expect the study to be completed towards the end of this year. Public consultation on the shortlisted options is due in early 2002.

Health and Safety Laboratory

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the costs of the Health and Safety Laboratory's estates in Sheffield and Buxton in 2001–02.

Alan Whitehead: The Health and Safety Laboratory's estates costs for the current year are estimated to be £3,693,000.

Health and Safety Laboratory

Richard Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimate he has made of the annual costs of the Health and Safety Laboratory's estates under the proposed PFI scheme on the Buxton site.

Alan Whitehead: Commercial negotiations for the Health and Safety Laboratory PFI collocation project have not been concluded with the preferred bidder. Any proposed costs relating to this project are therefore commercially confidential and cannot be made available.

Housing Association Schemes

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions 
	(1)  how many do-it-yourself shared-ownership scheme purchases there were by each housing association in each of the last five years;
	(2)  which housing associations participated in the do-it-yourself shared ownership scheme; and how many (a) do-it-yourself shared ownership scheme purchases and (b) transactions by shared owners there were in respect of (i) additional shares and (ii) outright purchase in each of the last five years.

Sally Keeble: Assistance under the do-it-yourself shared ownership (DIYSO) scheme led to 6,712 purchases in the years 1996–97 to 2000–01. Tables showing these purchases by housing association in each year have been placed in the Libraries of the House.
	The number of transactions by DIYSO purchasers in respect of the purchase of additional shares and staircasing to outright ownership is not identified separately by housing associations.

Contingency Plans (West Midlands)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what contingency plans he has made to improve transport services in the west midlands if a national stadium is placed there.

Sally Keeble: The capability of the transport system to deal with the potential demands of a national stadium in the west midlands are being considered by the project teams and the Government. There are a number of current projects which will improve the performance of the existing network, including the M6 Toll and Active Traffic Management on the M42. If implemented, the recommendations from the West Midlands Area Multi- Modal Study will also significantly improve the transport system. The Football Association have yet to decide whether or not they want a national stadium.

Health and Safety Inspections (Hotels)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many hotels in (a) London and (b) the UK have failed health and safety inspections in the last 12 months; and what mechanisms there are to ensure that health and safety guidelines are adhered to.

Alan Whitehead: We do not have any information in respect of the number of hotels in London and the UK that have failed health and safety inspections. Local authorities (LAs) are responsible for the enforcement of health and safety law in hotels throughout GB and LA inspectors will take appropriate enforcement action to ensure that health and safety guidelines are adhered to.

Fire Services

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many vacancies there are for fire personnel in the UK; and what steps he has taken to encourage more people into the service in the last five years.

Alan Whitehead: Based on annual returns to HM Fire Service Inspectorate, the provisional figures for the establishment and actual strength of the fire service in England and Wales as at 31 March 2001 were as follows:
	
		
			   Establishment Strength Variation 
		
		
			 Whole-time 33,640 33,376 -264 
			 Retained 14,960 12,033 -2,927 
			 Control 1,428 1,440 +12 
			 Non-uniformed 6,474 6,071 -403 
			  
			 Totals 56,502 52,920 -3,582 
		
	
	Local fire authorities are responsible for the recruitment and selection of fire service staff. In general the fire service is a popular career choice and applications far exceed the number of vacancies available each year. However, in some areas fire authorities and brigades do experience difficulties in recruiting to the retained (volunteer) sections of the fire service. For more than 10 years the Home Office, which had responsibility for fire service matters prior to the transfer to DTLR in June this year, has helped to encourage people to join the fire service both in a full-time and voluntary capacity by providing recruitment literature and advertising posters for local use.Over the last two years the Home Office, and now DTLR, have been encouraging. Fire authorities to review their recruitment practices in order to ensure they reach groups that are currently under-represented in the service. To help authorities to do this DTLR has developed new national recruitment literature which will be launched shortly.

Train Toilets

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what regulations exist to oblige train operating companies to make working toilets available to passengers on trains; and what plans his Department has to make the provision of toilets on trains an obligation in future train operating franchises.

David Jamieson: There are no regulations requiring train operators to provide toilets on trains, nor are there any plans for such regulations to be introduced. Train operators will only make the most of their commercial opportunities if they provide the facilities that passengers demand. The Strategic Rail Authority do not think it is a priority for investment to specify the provision of facilities which train operating companies are likely to provide of their own accord. Where train operators provide toilet facilities they are subject to the same environmental health requirements as any other provider of these facilities.

Train Toilets

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what powers the Strategic Railway Authority has to oblige train operating companies to make working toilets available to passengers on trains.

David Jamieson: The franchise agreements under which rail services are provided do not require toilets to be provided on trains. Any changes to a franchise agreement would have to be negotiated by the Strategic Rail Authority and the train operator concerned.

Airport Security

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessments he has made of security procedures as they apply to (a) general aviation and (b) regional airports within the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: My Department lays down the security requirements for the operators of public transport aircraft, both passenger-carrying and all-cargo, and the managers of the aerodromes they operate from. Following the attacks of September 11th these requirements have been extended to general aviation. DTLR inspectors monitor compliance.

Rating Appeals (Hertfordshire)

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the cost to industry in Hertfordshire of delays in the consideration of rating appeals in the last three years.

Alan Whitehead: I have made no such assessment.
	The Valuation Office Agency (VOA), an executive agency of Inland Revenue, is responsible for compiling and maintaining the non-domestic rating lists. Since 1 April 1998, the VOA has received some 1,400,000 appeals challenging the rateable values entered in the rating lists compiled since 1990, including some 800,000 appeals against the rateable values shown in the list that came into force on 1 April 2000. Consideration of this number of appeals inevitably takes time. The VOA publishes programmes setting out when all appeals will be considered; these are reviewed in consultation with ratepayers. If, when an appeal is considered, the VOA and the ratepayer do not reach agreement on the valuation, the appeal will be heard shortly afterwards by an independent Valuation Tribunal. Appeals may be considered earlier than is set out in the programme, if a ratepayer is suffering financial hardship.
	When an appeal is made, the ratepayer must continue to comply with the payment schedule as set out in the original demand notice from the local authority. Payments may only be altered following the settlement of an appeal and following the issue of a revised bill by the local authority. In general, the effect of any appeal leading to a change in rateable value will be backdated either to the date that the change in value occurred, or the first day of the financial year in which the appeal was made, whichever is the later. Where an appeal leads to a reduction in the amount due to be paid, any previous overpayment is refunded to the ratepayer with interest.

Railtrack

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 6 November 2001, Official Report, column 135W, on Railtrack, what action he will take to ensure the administrators of Railtrack conclude the proposed sale of the Oswestry branch line from Gobowen to Llanymywech to the Cambrian Railways Trust.

David Jamieson: I understand that Railtrack have proposed a meeting for 16 November with the Cambrian Railways Trust to discuss the proposed sale. The Trust has yet to confirm its availability.

Road Traffic Accidents

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many (a) fatal and (b) serious, road traffic accidents involving monocular commercial drivers there were in each of the last five years where the monocular vision of the driver was a contributory factor.

David Jamieson: The information requested is not available.

Rosyth Ferry Terminal

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of the (a) short-term, (b) medium-term and (c) long-term plans for the proposed Rosyth ferry terminal.

David Jamieson: The proposal for the Rosyth terminal that was considered for Freight Facilities Grant purposes was the expenditure on works that the port expects to be completed in a matter of months. The service that these works will serve is designed to go on for several years, but no further development at Rosyth has been notified.

Rosyth Ferry Terminal

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will place in the Library the proposals for the ferry terminal at Rosyth including (a) the initial investment plans and (b) the (i) short, (ii) medium and (iii) long-term plans.

David Jamieson: All correspondence between DTLR and the grant applicants is commercially confidential.

Homelessness

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many people at or above state retirement were placed in (a) bed-and-breakfast accommodation and (b) temporary local authority accommodation in the last year; how many were (i) permanently rehoused, (ii) placed in long-term residential care and (iii) found intentionally homeless, broken down by (A) sex and (B) age; and what the average length of stay was, in each responsible local authority, grouped by county.

Sally Keeble: This information is not collected centrally. Information on supported placements in long-term residential care and nursing homes is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health.

Abandoned Cars

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what estimates his Department has made of the number of abandoned cars dumped in England in (a) 2000 and (b) 1997.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 5 November 2001
	I have been asked to reply.
	Although the Department currently holds no central records of the number of vehicles abandoned each year we estimate that some 350,000 cars were dumped in the United Kingdom in 2000. We do not have an estimate of how many were dumped in 1997.
	More up to date information on the number of abandoned vehicles removed by local authorities is being collected in the Department's 2000–01 Municipal Waste Management Survey which should be published in July 2002.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Consultation Documents

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many consultation documents were issued by his Department from (a) 15 October to 14 January, (b) 15 January to 14 April, (c) 15 April to 14 July and (d) 15 July to 14 October in each year from 1996.

Denis MacShane: The FCO has issued consultation documents as follows:
	(a) None
	(b) None
	(c) One, 1999
	(d) Two, 1998 and 2000.

India

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with representatives of the Indian Government since 11 September; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: India plays an important role in the international campaign against terrorism. As such, we have had a number of meetings with the Indian Government. The Prime Minister visited India on 6 October and met Prime Minister Vajpayee. Mr. Vajpayee visited London on 12 November for talks with the Prime Minister. The Foreign Secretary and his Indian counterpart, Jaswant Singh, met in London on 3 October and expect to meet again at the UN General Assembly in New York this week.

Pakistan

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the change in the internal stability of Pakistan since 11 September; and if he will make a statement on the control of Pakistani nuclear weapons.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Caernarfon (Hywel Williams) on 24 October 2001, Official Report, column 258W. We expect all countries, including Pakistan, to implement stringent safety and security measures at their civil and military nuclear facilities.

Gibraltar

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy not to alter the sovereignty of Gibraltar without the consent of the people of Gibraltar.

Peter Hain: I refer my hon. Friend to my statement on 7 November 2001, Official Report, columns 88–92WH. The Government will continue to stand by their commitments to the people of Gibraltar as set out in the preamble to the Gibraltar Constitution.

Foreign Debt (Serbia)

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if it is his policy to support the demands of the Serbian Government to write-off two thirds of the country's foreign debt.

Paul Boateng: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK Government strongly support the impressive economic reform efforts of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). As a result the UK will be seeking an agreement in the forthcoming negotiations between the FRY and its Paris Club creditors beginning on 13 November that reduces FRY's debt to sustainable levels. On the basis of current IMF projects HMG will advocate debt reduction by official creditors of 75 per cent. Consistent with our policy towards other recipients of debt reduction, any deal should be designed to provide the incentives for continued economic reform in the medium term.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Violent Incidents

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the serious violent incidents attributed to (a) the IRA and proscribed Republican groups and (b) proscribed Loyalist terrorist groups over the past 30 years, indicating in each case the (i) date, (ii) location, (iii) number of casualties and (iv) estimated cost of the damage.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Police Recruitment

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the most recent recruitment campaign for the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Jane Kennedy: The second recruitment competition for the Police Service of Northern Ireland was launched on 12 October, and the closing date for applications is 16 November. By 5 November, Consensia had received 8,700 requests for application packs, and the response in terms of applications received to date has also been encouraging.

Francis Devlin

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures will be taken in response to the European Court of Human Rights decision in favour of Francis Devlin on 30 October; what compensation he will pay to Mr. Devlin; how many cases contesting procedures relating to national security exemption certificates are outstanding; and what steps will be taken to settle those cases prior to any court hearing in Strasbourg.

Jane Kennedy: The European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in the Devlin case on 30 October. The court found a breach of article 6(1) because Mr. Devlin had no effective way of challenging the certificate issued under section 42 of the Fair Employment (Northern Ireland) Act 1976 in relation to his discrimination proceedings. The court rejected the Government's argument that Mr. Devlin could not rely on article 6(1) rights in the circumstances of his case. In rejecting this argument the court found a breach in the same terms as those found in the Tinnelly and McElduff cases. Following those judgments in 1998, the Government established a Tribunal, under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, to which an individual can appeal against a section 42 certificate. The remedial action required, should a similar situation to Mr. Devlin's case arise now, is therefore already in place. The court awarded £10,000 to Mr. Devlin and the Government are considering the terms of the judgment and their next steps in relation to this. The Government are aware of only one outstanding case in Strasbourg contesting procedures relating to section 42 certificates and are considering what steps should be taken to seek to settle the dispute.

Criminal Justice Review

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he will publish the Government's response to the criminal justice review.

Des Browne: A draft Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill and implementation plan were published today and copies have been placed in the Library. Copies of both documents are also available on the Northern Ireland Office website, along with the outcome of an equality screening exercise.
	Many of the recommendations will be implemented through the legislation. The implementation plan sets out the programme of work required to implement the criminal justice review, the time scale for this and who will be responsible for taking it forward. It also states that the Government's target is to devolve policing and justice after the Assembly elections scheduled for May 2003.
	There will now be a period of consultation before the legislation is introduced in Parliament. Subject to the outcome of consultation, it is expected that the legislation will be introduced in this Session.

DEFENCE

Territorial Army

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment has been made of the capability of each of the territorial infantry battalions to be deployed on operations as formed units. [R]

Lewis Moonie: Under the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) the Territorial Army (TA) was restructured to make it more relevant and usable and more fully integrated into our armed forces and defence plans. As a result, more TA units are now held at a higher state of readiness than pre-SDR and we continue to assess that the TA infantry battalions have the capability to be deployed on operations as formed units. As such they are an essential part of the Army's order of battle.

Territorial Army

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment has been made of the capability of the TA to provide the framework for the rapid expansion of the forces; and if he will make a statement. [R]

Lewis Moonie: The national footprint of Territorial Army (TA) units, created following the Strategic Defence Review, continues to provide a sound basis for generating formed units and individuals as an essential part of the Army's order of battle. We are looking at ways of increasing the contribution the TA makes to our defence plans. In line with the strategy for the Army (a version of which was placed in the House Library in March) a range of options is being considered including how the TA may be used in providing assistance to the civil community in an emergency.

Territorial Army

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Territorial Army units he has available with anti-aircraft capability.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 9 November 2001
	Within the Territorial Army, there are two Air Defence Artillery Regiments equipped with the Javelin air defence missile system, and one Air Defence Artillery Regiment trained in the use of the Rapier air defence missile system and the high velocity missile system. These are available at extended readiness to deploy on operations.

Summer Recess

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) press notices and (b) consultation documents were issued by his Department during the summer recess.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 23 October 2001
	During the summer recess, the Ministry of Defence issued a total of 27 press releases (excluding operational notes). No consultation documents were issued during this period. Copies of press releases and consultation documents can be viewed on the MOD's website.

Communications

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment is being made of the impact of improved communications on the ability of subordinates to take the initiative; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Much work has been done, and more is under way, to ensure that the full potential of improved communications is realised. New technology, including the Personal Role Radio and Bowman, is being introduced in such a way as to enhance the effective exercise of command. Army doctrine will continue to empower subordinates at every level to take the initiative within the framework of their commanders' intent.

Departmental Promotions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on information literature, advertising and campaign material in the financial years (a) 1995–96, (b) 1996–97, (c) 1997–98, (d) 1998–99, (e) 1999–2000 and (f) 2000–01; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I am therefore unable to provide a substantive answer under the terms of exemption 9 (voluminous and vexatious requests) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
	However, a breakdown of the Ministry of Defence's public relations' expenditure is published in the annual departmental performance report, broken down into categories of Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and civilian recruitment, PR, marketing and business support services, chief of PR, sales promotion, scholarships and national employers' liaison committee.

Medical Preparedness

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish in full the Three Services Board of Inquiry report into medical preparedness prepared by the Surgeon General's Department; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 1 November 2001
	I assume the hon. Member is referring to the reports of the three Service Boards of Inquiry into medical preparedness for Op. Palliser. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 1 February 2001, Official Report, column 262W and to the comprehensive information which has already been provided on the conclusions and recommendations of the three Service Boards of Inquiry. Board of Inquiry reports are internal documents and, given their confidential nature, it is not the practice of the Ministry of Defence to publish them in full.

Defence Diversification Agency

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list Scottish firms that have had negotiations with the Defence Diversification Agency since its inception.

Lewis Moonie: holding answer 2 November 2001
	Defence Diversification Agency contacts with Scottish firms are listed. The list includes companies and private sector organisations where discussions are active, assistance has been provided, or discussions have been held but assistance could not be provided. The list covers the period from January 2000 (the agency having been established in the previous year) to date.
	
		
			 Company Location 
		
		
			 Clariant West Lothian 
			 Gemini Tayside 
			 Ferranti Photonics Tayside 
			 ESL Renfewshire 
			 Kogg Caledonia Tayside 
			 MacTaggart Scott Midlothian 
			 Enfocast London/Scotland 
			 Reign of Sound Livingston 
			 NMT Livingston 
			 Motech Livingston 
			 Tannoy Ltd. Lanarkshire 
			 New Product Technologies Lanarkshire 
			 Meiklewall Lanarkshire 
			 Linn Products Lanarkshire 
			 REVIVO Highlands and Islands 
			 Weatherford Grampian 
			 Stenmar Sonavision Grampian 
			 Prosyst Grampian 
			 Leading Edge Advantage Grampian 
			 IES Grampian 
			 Westica Glasgow 
			 Realise Glasgow 
			 Q1 Biotech Glasgow 
			 Diagnostic Potentials Glasgow 
			 Buchanan International Glasgow 
			 Ascom IT Glasgow 
			 Adenco Glasgow 
			 Magnetic Mirror Energy Fife 
			 ZED Vu Fife 
			 Viscotest Fife 
			 Simclar International Fife 
			 Optima Enclosures Ltd. Fife 
			 Movi-mail Fife 
			 Mission Technology Fife 
			 Mine Ordance Fife 
			 Miller (Methil) Fife 
			 Milestone International Fife 
			 Logistic Systems Ltd. Fife 
			 IDS Ltd. Fife 
			 ICM Fortronic Fife 
			 HCS Fluid Power Fife 
			 Freeform Technologies Fife 
			 Forth Ports Fife 
			 Easy Park Fife 
			 DNA Fife 
			 Cyber Frontiers Fife 
			 Co-drive Technologies Fife 
			 Cipher Solutions Fife 
			 Calluna Fife 
			 Bonnybrae Ltd. Fife 
			 Babcock Fife 
			 Alcan Fife 
			 McGregor Traders Edinburgh 
			 Image Fusion Edinburgh 
			 Footle Edinburgh 
			 Dovetail Edinburgh 
			 Amey Vectra Edinburgh 
			 Acuid Edinburgh 
			 Biotrix Borders 
			 Vesion 7 Ayrshire 
			 Provan Engineering Ayrshire 
			 Orcam Ayrshire 
			 Evolvon Ayrshire 
			 Chilton Ayrshire 
			 Alan West Wallacetown Ayrshire

Consultation Documents

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many consultation documents were issued by his Department from (a) 15 October to 14 January, (b) 15 January to 14 April, (c) 15 April to 14 July and (d) 15 July to 14 October in each year from 1996.

Lewis Moonie: Since January 2001, the Ministry of Defence has co-ordinated its written public consultation in line with the Cabinet Office's "code of practice" issued in November 2000. The Ministry of Defence issued six consultation documents during the period January 15 to April 14 and one document between April 15 to July 14. No documents were issued between July 15 to October 14. Prior to January 2001 these statistics were not held centrally and to establish accurate figures could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Defence Medals

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will review the criteria for determining the award of a defence medal for service personnel.

Lewis Moonie: There are no plans to review the qualifying criteria for the defence medal which recognised non-operational service for armed forces personnel and certain specific categories of civilians during the Second World War.

Defence Medals

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will instruct the Adjutant General's Office to instigate a review of the rules covering the issue of the defence medal.

Lewis Moonie: I do not believe there is a requirement for a review of the regulations surrounding the defence medal. In 1946, the Committee on the Grants of Honours, Decorations and Medals discussed the awards, and their qualifying criteria, that should be instituted to reward service in the campaigns, operations and defence commitments during the Second World War. Members of the Committee included senior military and Government officers who had first hand experience and thorough knowledge of the events throughout the war. The regulations governing the qualification requirements for all Second World War medals were finalised in 1948, following approval from His Majesty King George VI, and were announced on 11 June 1948. These regulations have been strictly adhered to ever since.

Defence Medals

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will create an accessible Board of Appeal for the award of defence medals, in order that evidence that is acceptable to a Court of Law is not disregarded.

Lewis Moonie: I do not believe there is a requirement for a Board of Appeal. The authoritative source of an individual's medal entitlement is properly their service record. If an individual disputes the official record then the onus is on that individual to provide official contemporary documentary evidence as proof of entitlement.

Defence Medals

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he delegates to the Officer-in-Charge, Army Medal Office, full authority for the decision making process for medal applications.

Lewis Moonie: The proposed qualifying criteria for medals are submitted to the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals (HD Committee) for consideration, after which their recommendation is passed to the Sovereign for approval. Following Royal assent the Officer-in-Charge of the Army Medal Office is responsible for ensuring that all applications for Army and Home Guard medals fulfil the relevant qualifying criteria by checking eligibility against official service records. The Navy, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines have their own medal offices with the appropriate delegated authority.

Golden Jubilee Medals

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received to grant the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal to service men who were injured during World War Two; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence has not received any representations requesting an amendment to the qualifying criteria for the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal to include those service men who were injured during the Second World War.

War Pensions

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 28 June 2001, Official Report, column 132W, on war pensions, if he will state (a) how many expert caseworkers there are and (b) whether all the caseworkers are qualified medical doctors.

Lewis Moonie: There are currently five expert caseworkers employed by the War Pensions Agency. All are medically qualified and hold full registration with the General Medical Council.

Saif Sareea

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many missions or training packages involving UK armoured vehicles and tanks as part of Saif Sareea II were (a) cancelled and (b) reduced in package due to (i) serviceability shortfalls and (ii) technical malfunctions in the vehicles; what percentage of missions or training packages involving UK armoured vehicles or tanks this represents; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 8 November 2001
	Inevitably on occasions minor technical or mechanical problems temporarily required individual Challenger 2 tanks and other vehicles to undergo short periods of maintenance, but overall the armoured vehicles deployed on Exercise Saif Sareea 2 successfully completed the tasks required of them.
	The extent of the involvement of Challenger 2 was, however, adjusted during the exercise as further experience was gained in operating the tank in the harsh desert environment. Previous experience of operating other armoured vehicle types in desert conditions meant that maintenance could be more accurately programmed and no adjustment to their involvement was necessary.

Saif Sareea

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason logistical aspects of Saif Sareea 2 were carried out in non-tactical settings.

Geoff Hoon: The extent to which logistic support to a major exercise is conducted tactically requires a very careful balance to be made between the effective conduct of the wider exercise, the training benefit to be gained and the costs both financial and on military manpower. In the case of Exercise Saif Sareea, the vast majority of logistic support was conducted tactically throughout the exercise play.
	The sole major exception to this was third line logistic support to the deployed land forces: logistic support to land forces in the exercise area was conducted tactically, but was non-tactical along the 1,200 kilometre line of communication across Oman. To have deployed tactically at third line would have placed a major additional burden on army logistics staffs, with little or no gain in terms of training benefit.

Afghanistan

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the cost of the munitions used in each week of the Afghanistan campaign.

Geoff Hoon: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 23 October 2001, Official Report, column 114W, to the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker).

Afghanistan

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of cluster bombs used in Afghanistan did not explode on impact.

Adam Ingram: The cluster bombs used in Afghanistan have not been prohibited by any treaty or convention and they are employed only against legitimate terrorist and military objectives where they are the most effective weapon to attack the target concerned. All types of munitions can fail in various ways and cluster bombs are no exception. However, it is not for Her Majesty's Government to comment on the performance of US weapons.

Afghanistan

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communications have taken place between his Department and operational commanders involved in military actions in Afghanistan in respect of the clear labelling of yellow cluster bombs and yellow food parcels; and what plans there are to halt the use of cluster bombs by the Allied coalition forces involved in operations in Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: We are in close touch with the US on all aspects of the response to the 11 September attacks, including at the military planning level. I understand that the US authorities have recognised that there is a problem with bomblets from cluster bombs and food parcels both being yellow. They have, therefore, dropped leaflets with diagrams of the two explaining which should be approached and which avoided.
	Cluster bombs are legitimate weapons that have not been prohibited by any treaty or convention. There are no plans to halt their use against legitimate terrorist and military targets.

Depleted Uranium

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 29 October 2001, Official Report, column 519W, which categories of nuclear weapons contain depleted uranium; and what the purpose is of including depleted uranium in these weapons.

Lewis Moonie: The UK Trident warheads for our nuclear deterrent contain depleted uranium. The purpose of this material is ultimately associated with the functioning of the warhead and the details are classified. For this reason I am withholding this information under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Procurement Contracts

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with how many small and medium enterprises his Department has signed procurement contracts.

Lewis Moonie: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Ministry of Defence places around 50,000 contracts annually with a total value of around £9 billion.

Smallpox Antidote

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what levels of smallpox antidote are held by his Department.

Lewis Moonie: The Ministry of Defence does not hold a supply of smallpox vaccine.

Military Supplies

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by whom the review of military supplies will be conducted; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has been conducting an extensive review of all its logistic stockholdings to ensure consistency with defence planning assumptions. This work started over 12 months ago. In light of September 11, and as a standard military practice, we have reviewed the validity of that original work.

Bowman

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date he expects the Bowman personal role radio to be in service.

Lewis Moonie: Following the successful employment of personal role radios by 45 Commando RM on Exercise Saif Sareea 2, we expect to meet the declared in-service date by the end of this year, some three months earlier than planned.

Nuclear Warfare Strategy

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the UK's nuclear warfare strategy.

Geoff Hoon: The Government's nuclear weapon policy was set out in the Strategic Defence Review.

Indirect Fire Precision Attack

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the Indirect Fire Precision Attack project.

Lewis Moonie: The Indirect Fire Precision Attack (IFPA) project will provide the Army with all-weather, 24-hour Indirect Fire System for the precision attack of targets at extended range. BAE Systems has been selected, after competition, as the preferred bidder to manage the Assessment Phase contract, which is expected to be placed in early 2002.
	On current plans we expect to decide whether to proceed into the demonstration and manufacturing stage in 2005. If so the first IFPA capability would be delivered in 2010 and full IFPA capability would then enter service after 2015, incrementally under Smart Acquisition.

UK Airports (Military Protection)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military protection is being offered to UK airports; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Responsibility for airport security rests with the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR), who are currently working on this issue in consultation with other Departments, including the Ministry of Defence. There are long-standing arrangements for the armed forces to provide support to the DTLR, should a specific threat arise.

Civil National Infrastructure

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to deploy (a) armed forces personnel and (b) reservists to protect critical elements of the civil national infrastructure, other than nuclear power installations.

Adam Ingram: Security of the critical elements of the civil national infrastructure rests with a number of Government Departments. The police may request the support of the armed forces to guard key installations should other resources prove insufficient. While we maintain close contact with the police, there have been no recent requests for this support.
	The possible deployment of the Territorial Army and reservists in this role will be considered during the development of the new chapter of the Strategic Defence Review, announced in the House on 4 October. This work will consider the requirement for additional resources, should this and/or other roles be identified, and the cost-effectiveness of the armed forces playing a greater part in this work.

Forces Review

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which divisions of his Department are contributing to the Forces Review; and if he will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: As I have made clear, the work we are conducting is not a new Strategic Defence Review. It is more the adding of a further chapter to the existing SDR to ensure that we have the right concepts, forces and capabilities in place to meet the additional challenges posed by asymmetric threats of the kind that we saw on 11 September.
	A wide range of individuals are taking part in the work from many areas of the Ministry of Defence, because of their current responsibilities and/or their wider knowledge and expertise. We are also involving other Government Departments and other experts. At this stage, the work is being led by the policy area within the MOD.

Desert Combat Suits

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many desert combat suits are held at command ordnance depots.

Adam Ingram: There are currently 53,647 pairs of desert trousers (across 27 sizes) and 118,490 desert jackets (across 13 sizes) held in UK ordnance depots. The Ministry of Defence does not hold information on the number of desert combat suits held in the Commonwealth depots.

Army Foundation College

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which MOD sites are under consideration for the siting of a new Army Foundation College.

Adam Ingram: The Army is currently examining options for improving its system of initial training, including the establishment of a second Army Foundation College, together with the provision of improved facilities that are appropriate for the future and for a range of abilities and age groups, to build in the success of the existing college at Harrogate. These options include the provision of a college through partnership with the private sector. As part of this process, the Army is considering options that include existing Ministry of Defence sites, to select a Public Sector Comparator for the project. I am withholding the details of the MOD sites in question in accordance with exemption 7 (Effective Management and Operations of the Public Service) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information. If it were decided to pursue the partnership option, this would be announced in the normal way through the Official Journal of the European Communities. It would then be open for any proposals for the college, including its location, to be put forward for consideration as part of the competitive process. We anticipate a variety of sites, including existing MOD and other locations, to be proposed.
	A decision on the way forward is unlikely before next year.

Strategic Defence Review

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what procurement spending commitments implicit in the Strategic Defence Review he will meet.

Lewis Moonie: I refer the hon. Member to the answer which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence gave on 29 October 2001, Official Report, columns 513–14W, to my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann).

Defence Imports (Israel)

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what stage is the proposed purchase from Israel of the Gill-Spike anti-tank missile; what the results are of the tests of the missile by his Department in the UK and Canada; and if he will make a statement.

Lewis Moonie: Gill-Spike is already in service with the Israeli Ministry of Defence. The UK is currently evaluating Spike along with the US Javelin weapon to assess the most appropriate system to meet our requirement for medium range anti-tank guided weapons. The results of the trials will be considered, along with all other relevant factors including cost and time scales, before reaching a final decision. We expect to do so late next year.

Defence Imports (Israel)

George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the (a) quantity and (b) category of defence equipment purchased from Israel for each year from 1997.

Lewis Moonie: Since 1997, five contracts have been placed with prime contractors based in Israel:
	
		
			 Year Category of equipment Quantity 
		
		
			 1997 Spares: grenade sight caps Information not held centrally 
			  Small arms ammunition In the order of 25 million rounds of ammunition 
			 1998 Manual loader for air-to-ground missile 60 
			 1999 No contracts placed  
			 2000 Concept Study Not applicable 
			 2001 Anti-tank missile hardware for assessment trials 14 missiles and associated equipment

Overseas Entertainment

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the (a) acts and (b) costs of artists performing for UK forces overseas, in the past five years.

Adam Ingram: Information in the precise format requested is not held by the Ministry of Defence. Officials are, however, establishing with the Services Sound and Vision Corporation who organise "Combined Services Entertainment" details of the number of shows performed in each of the past five years, the overall cost for each show and examples of artists who have performed. I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House. I am withholding costs of the artists performing for reasons of commercial confidentiality in accordance with Exemption 13 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

RAF Coltishall, Norfolk

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the security of personal items of service men at RAF Coltishall, Norfolk; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: No assessment has been made of the security of personal items of serving personnel at RAF Coltishall, Norfolk. Service personnel are routinely briefed on how to ensure the security of their personal items.

Challenger 2

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if halt drills for Challenger 2 require filters to be cleaned.

Lewis Moonie: The halt drills for the Challenger 2 main battle tank do not require filters to be cleaned. There is, however, a requirement to check the warning light for the filter indicators and replace filters as required.

Challenger 2

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what changes in halt drills have taken place since the introduction of Challenger 2.

Lewis Moonie: There have been some very minor changes to the halt drills since the introduction of the Challenger 2 main battle tank. These relate to checking the light source for the muzzle reference system and inspection of the main armament at periodic intervals.

TREASURY

Pensioners (Buckingham)

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people of pensionable age there are in the Buckingham constituency.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Bercow, dated 12 November 2001
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question concerning how many people of pensionable age there are in the Buckingham constituency. (14210)
	ONS does not produce population estimates on parliamentary constituency boundaries. The smallest area level for which we produce population estimates is for local authorities.
	Mid 2000 estimates of the number of people of pensionable age in local authority areas area available in table 8 on the National Statistics website at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme population/PENo3/PENo3 v3.pdf

Unemployment (Buckingham)

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of unemployment was in the Buckingham constituency in (a) September 2000 and (b) September 2001.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the national statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. John Bercow, dated 12 November 2001
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question concerning the level of unemployment in the Buckingham constituency in September 2000 and September 2001. (14202)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics for unemployment from surveys following the internationally standard International Labour Organisation definition. However, for the Buckingham parliamentary constituency the survey sample size is too small to provide estimates. ONS also compiles statistics of claimants of unemployment-related benefits. The claimant count consists of all people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or National Insurance credits at Employment Service local offices. They must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made.
	Between September 2000 and September 2001 the claimant count level in the Buckingham parliamentary constituency rose by 25 from 354 to 379.

NIRS2

David Rendel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects the NIRS2 computer system to be fully operational.

Dawn Primarolo: The NIRS2 computer system is fully operational.

VAT

David Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much additional VAT revenue was secured by shadow economy teams in (a) 1999–2000, (b) 2000–01 and (c) 2001–02 to date.

Paul Boateng: holding answer 6 November 2001
	The information is as follows:
	
		Additional VAT revenue
		
			   £ million 
		
		
			 1999–2000 43.6 
			 2000–01 (1)— 
			 2001–02 (1)— 
		
	
	(1) Data not yet available

Customs and Excise

David Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average case value was of cases of VAT fraud investigated by HM Customs and Excise under the civil penalty procedure in (a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c) 1999–2000, (d) 2000–01 and (e) 2001–02 to date; and if he will express the figures both in actual cash terms and in constant prices.

Paul Boateng: holding answer 6 November 2001
	The average values for VAT civil evasion cases are as follows:
	
		
			 Year Number of cases Actual average value (£) At constant 2000–01 prices (£)  
		
		
			 1997–98 898 28,000 30,000 
			 1998–99 902 32,000 33,000 
			 1999–2000 861 35,000 37,000 
			 2000–01 729 49,000 49,000 
		
	
	These figures are rounded to the nearest thousand. Figures for 2001–02 are not yet available.

Budget Allocations

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what additional budget allocations have been made since 11 September to (a) the UK security services, (b) the Ministry of Defence, (c) the Department for International Development and (d) other Departments; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what allocations have so far been approved out of the reserves for the financial years (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Smith: holding answer, 25 October 2001
	The Chancellor has made it clear that the Government will meet the costs of measures related to our response to international terrorism, while continuing to deliver our spending plans within the fiscal rules. Any additions to departmental expenditure limits will continue to be reported to Parliament through the supplementary estimates process in the normal way.

Tax Deduction

Derek Conway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the basis is for the policy of allowing tax deducted from bank and building society deposits to be reclaimed, but not from dividends paid on shares and unit trusts; and if he will make a statement.

Ruth Kelly: Income tax is deducted at source from bank and building society interest, and the tax deducted can be reclaimed where a saver is not liable to pay it. There is no tax deduction at source from dividends, and so no tax to reclaim. Dividends carry a tax credit which satisfies the tax liability of investors with income up to the basic rate limit, but non-taxpayers cannot claim payment of this tax credit.

Fuel Duties (Greater London)

Tom Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received as to the effect of fuel duties on businesses in the Greater London area in the last 12 months.

Paul Boateng: The Chancellor receives many representations covering a wide range of issues including the impact of fuel duties upon the economy. These are given due consideration in the context of the Budget judgment.

Occupational Pension Schemes

Huw Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if part-time employees or ex-employees who have been awarded backdated access to their occupational pension schemes, will be permitted to take the relevant tax relief for the year in which the contribution applied; and if he will relax sections 592 and 594 of the Taxes Act 1988 to permit such persons to make a one-off tax-free contribution of greater than the annual permitted amount.

Ruth Kelly: Part-time employees have always been able to join and contribute to tax approved pensions schemes on the same basis as other employees. Any restriction on the participation of part-time employees in an occupational pension scheme is as a result of scheme rules.
	It is up to employers and employees to settle how to give part-timers' rights to retrospective membership in occupational pension schemes, or agree equivalent compensation. In such cases there are no limits on the amounts of contributions which employers and employees may make to defined benefit occupational pension schemes. Employee contributions of up to 15 per cent. of the pay of the year of payment of contributions qualify for tax relief, as do all employer contributions.

Customs and Excise (Officer Suspensions)

Marsha Singh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Customs and Excise officers are suspended over allegations relating to a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice; and in which areas of the country they were based.

Paul Boateng: Eight officers are suspended: at Leeds (six), Brighton (one) and London (one).

Heroin Seizures

Marsha Singh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much heroin seized in the last year in the United Kingdom was supplied from Pakistan; and whether this includes controlled deliveries by Customs and Excise from Pakistan to the United Kingdom.

Paul Boateng: The complexity of smuggling routes means that Customs does not know the country of origin of all drug seizures. Of the heroin seized in the UK by Customs during the financial year 2000–01, 83 kg is recorded as having Pakistan as the known country of origin. It is not policy to give details of investigative techniques as that could prejudice the investigation and detection of crime.

Customs and Excise (Controlled Deliveries)

Marsha Singh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many operations conducted by HM Customs and Excise in relation to controlled deliveries are under legal review by independent counsel.

Paul Boateng: HM Customs and Excise has asked independent counsel to advise on five controlled delivery cases.

Debt Write-off

Tom Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to write off debts owed by the poorest countries; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Boateng: The UK has consistently been at the forefront of the international debate on debt relief for developing countries. The UK pushed for the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative to be speeded up, and as a result 23 countries were receiving debt relief at the end of October. Those countries will receive $54 billion in debt relief, which will reduce their debts to below the developing country average.
	The UK's 100 per cent. bilateral policy on debt relief means that it stands ready to write off £1.9 billion of debt to all 42 HIPCs, and is one of the highest contributors to the HIPC trust fund.
	In addition, the Chancellor also announced last December that the UK would hold in trust any payments from those HIPCs yet to receive debt relief, and we continue to call on other creditor countries to follow our lead.

Cigarette Imports

Nick Gibb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the interpretation of the phrase, for own consumption, when applied to the import of cigarettes from the EU into the United Kingdom.

Paul Boateng: The definition of "own use" and the circumstances whereby people travelling to the UK from other EU countries are entitled to bring into the UK without charge cigarettes which they have purchased tax-paid elsewhere in the EU are set out in the Excise Duties (Personal Reliefs) Order 1992.

Equitable Life

Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the estimate is of the cost of the Penrose inquiry in (a) 2001–02 and (b) 2002–03.

Ruth Kelly: No firm estimate has been made of the cost of the Penrose inquiry. Whatever resources are required by Lord Penrose will be made available to him.

Equitable Life

Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff are employed on the Penrose inquiry (a) full-time and (b) part-time.

Ruth Kelly: The Penrose inquiry is an independent inquiry and the number of staff employed on it will be determined by the requirements of Lord Penrose. I understand that currently there are seven full-time and two part-time staff employed on the inquiry.

Manufacturing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures are being taken to help improve manufacturing employment and the share of GDP produced by the manufacturing sector.

Paul Boateng: The Government are committed to creating and maintaining the right climate for businesses of all kinds to flourish, invest and grow. Since 1997, the Government's central economic objective has been to achieve high and stable levels of growth and employment. To this end, they have pursued macro-economic and enterprise policies which promote business activity, and which should contribute to higher productivity. The Government have been determined that we will not return to the damaging cycle of boom and bust, which created so much uncertainty and trapped businesses in a cycle of low investment and low productivity.
	Specific measures of benefit to manufacturing, in support of this objective, have been detailed in successive Budgets, pre-Budget reports and various White Papers, including "Opportunity for All in a World of Change" (Cm 5052) and "Excellence and Opportunity—A Science and Innovation Policy for the 21st Century" (Cm 4814).

Tax Burdens

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what (a) discussions he has had with and (b) representations he has received from the social exclusion unit regarding the tax burden on families in the lowest income quintile.

Andrew Smith: The Government are committed to helping all families with children through the tax and benefit system, targeting the most support on those who need it most. The Treasury works closely with other Departments, including with the social exclusion unit, to help achieve this aim.
	As a result of personal tax and benefit measures since 1997, families with children in the lowest income quintile are on average £1,700 a year better off.

Post Office Closures

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact on financial exclusion among persons in the lowest income quintile resulting from sub-post office closures in (a) inner-city and (b) rural areas in the past four years.

Andrew Smith: The Government have made no such assessment.

Consultation Documents

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many consultation documents were issued by his Department from (a) 15 October to 14 January, (b) 15 January to 14 April, (c) 15 April to 14 July and (d) 15 July to 14 October in each year from 1996.

Ruth Kelly: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 24 October 2001, Official Report, columns 258–59W, and to the response to the question by the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington) on 25 October 2001, Official Report, column 377W. Consultation documents from May 1997 are listed on the Treasury public website (www.hm-treasury.gov.uk). Providing information in the format requested and for dates before 1997 would incur disproportionate costs.

Economic Growth

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the impact on (a) Government expenditure and (b) tax revenues of a 0.1 per cent. change in the economy's rate of growth (i) in the year in which that change is experienced and (ii) in subsequent years.

Andrew Smith: The Treasury's estimates of the impact of the economic cycle on the public finances are set out in the publication, "Fiscal policy: public finances and the cycle", HM Treasury, March 1999.

Privy Council Silver

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much Bonham and Brooks charged by way of (a) cancellation and (b) otherwise in respect of the withdrawal from their auction of 30 November of certain items of Privy Council silver.

Ruth Kelly: The Treasury has engaged Bonham and Brooks to perform a programme of services relating to the valuation of assets as well as their sale. That engagement will continue. The fees payable will reflect the eventual overall outcome of the programme. No cancellation or other fee will be payable as a result of the recent withdrawals from auction.

Graduate Incomes

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 31 October 2001, Official Report, column 888W, to the hon. Member for the Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner), on graduate incomes, if he will give estimate of the average gross weekly earnings of full time employees by age, broken down into (a) graduates and (b) non-graduates and (i) male and (ii) female in each category for spring 2000.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Lynne Jones, dated 12 November 2001
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question about the average gross weekly earnings of graduates and non-graduates (14275).
	The Labour Force Survey (LFS) provides estimates of average gross weekly earnings for graduates and non-graduates. However, it only collects information about qualifications from respondents of working age (men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59). Therefore, it does not provide estimates for female graduates and non-graduates aged 60 years or over.
	Estimates for male and female graduates and non graduates for spring (March to May) 2000 are given in the attached table.
	
		Average gross weekly earnings of full-time(2) employees by age, gender and whether a graduate or non-graduate; United Kingdom; spring (March to May 2000); not seasonally adjusted
		
			£  
			  All full-time employees of working age(3),(4) Graduates Non-graduates 
		
		
			  Male full-time employees aged:  
			 16–64 years 426 628 370 
			 18 years 152 (6)— 152 
			 22 years 266 300 258 
			 30 years 399 480 372 
			 40 years 490 813 426 
			 50 years 506 746 442 
			 60 years 431 (6)— 382 
			 
			  Female full-time employees aged:  
			 16–59 years 313 455 276 
			 18 years 160 (6)— 160 
			 22 years 229 250 221 
			 30 years 351 450 308 
			 40 years 354 (6)— 313 
			 50 years 322 (6)— 295 
			 60 years(5) — — — 
		
	
	(2) The definition of full-time/part-time is based on respondents' self-assessment
	(3) Men aged 16–64 and women aged 16–59
	(4) Includes people who did not state their qualifications
	(5) Estimates for women aged 60 years are not available because the questions about qualifications only apply to people of working age
	(6) Sample size too small for reliable estimate
	Source:
	ONS Labour Force Survey

Breast Cancer

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the survival rates are for victims of breast cancer in (a) North Yorkshire, (b) Nottinghamshire, (c) Cumbria and (d) the United Kingdom at the latest date for which figures are available.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Miss Anne McIntosh, dated 12 November 2001
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the survival rates for victims of breast cancer in North Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Cumbria and the United Kingdom at the latest available date (13381).
	Figures on survival rates from cancer are not generally available for local authority areas, such as Nottinghamshire and Cumbria. However, the following five-year survival rates for women aged 15–99 diagnosed with breast cancer are available for health authority areas in England:
	figures for women diagnosed in the period 1991–1993 can be obtained from the Department of Health website at: www.doh.gov.uk/nhsperformanceindicators/hlpi2000/h1143t.html; and
	figures for women diagnosed in the period 1992–1994 are being made available at health authority level on the National Statistics website (www.statistics.gov.uk) from Monday 12th November.
	Information on five-year survival from breast cancer in the United Kingdom as a whole is not available. Separate figures are available for England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, based on women diagnosed during 1992–94, 1985–89, 1991–95, and 1993–96, respectively, and followed up to the end of 1999, 1994, 1998, and 1999, respectively. These are given in the following table. Because of differences in coverage and end of follow-up, and for other reasons, figures for the separate countries are not directly comparable and cannot be made so.
	Breast cancer in men is rare. Survival rates for men diagnosed 1986–90 and followed up to the end of 1995 have been published for NHS regions in England, and Wales, in Coleman MP et al., Cancer survival trends in England and Wales 1971–1995: deprivation and NHS Region. Series SMPS No. 61. London: The Stationery Office, 1999.
	
		Survival from breast cancer for women aged 15–99 in the United Kingdom
		
			  Percentage  
			 Country 5 year relative survival 
		
		
			 England 75 
			 Wales(7) 65 
			 Scotland 75 
			 Northern Ireland 78 
		
	
	(7) Females aged 0–84
	Sources:
	Office for National Statistics. Cancer survival 1992–1999, England. London: ONS, 31st January 2001
	Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit. Cancer Registration and Survival in Wales 1985–1994. Cardiff: WCISU, 1999
	Scottish Cancer Intelligence Unit. Trends in Cancer Survival in Scotland 1971–1995. Edinburgh: Information & Statistics Division NHS in Scotland, 2000
	Fitzpatrick DA, Gavin AT. Survival of Cancer Patients in Northern Ireland 1993–1996. Belfast: Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, 2001

Reserves

Michael Howard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how much money remains in the reserves; and what plans he has to increase the funds available in the reserves over the course of the current financial year;
	(2)  if he will provide a breakdown of how, and in what quantities, money available in the reserves has been spent so far in the current financial year.

Andrew Smith: Any additions to departmental expenditure limits will continue to be reported to Parliament through the supplementary estimates process in the normal way. The forthcoming pre-Budget report will set out the latest position on the public finances.

Business Payroll Costs

Mark Prisk: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will publish the Carter review of payroll costs to business; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to what the Chancellor of the Exchequer said to him at Question Time on 8 November 2001, Official Report, column 363.

Bank Disclosures

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 23 October 2001, Official Report, column 204W, on bank disclosures, what information he has received on the lending patterns in under-invested communities of (a) Lloyds TSB, (b) HSBC, (c) Nat West and (d) Barclays.

Ruth Kelly: Information on the lending patterns of banks to under-invested communities is available in the Bank of England's report "Finance for Small Businesses in Deprived Communities" (November 2000). It is a matter for individual banks to decide whether to disclose further information. I am aware that, of the banks mentioned in my hon. Friend's question, Barclays published some data in their "Social and Environmental Report 2000".

Construction and Refurbishment Contracts

Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the top 10 companies to which his Department contracted out their construction and refurbishment work in the last 12 months.

Ruth Kelly: The information is as follows:
	HM Treasury
	No such contracts were let in the period concerned.
	Office of Government Commerce
	Balfour Beatty Refurb. Ltd.
	DTZ
	Turner & Townsend Proj. Management
	Withey Building Services
	Cheetham Hill Construction Ltd.
	Interior Plc.
	VHE Construction Ltd.
	Kilby & Gayford Construction
	Paragon Interior Group Plc.
	Lambert Smith Hampton
	OGC Buying Solutions
	Spraybake Limited
	Hodge Clemco Ltd.
	HM Customs and Excise
	Interior Design Management
	Courtenay Building Cont.
	Spectrum Projects Ltd.
	Wates Interiors Ltd.
	Turner & Townsend Ltd.
	Connaught Interiors Ltd.
	Rosser & Russell
	John Laing Construction
	Simpson Ltd.
	British Airports Authority
	Inland Revenue
	HBG Management Ltd.
	Semple & Cochrane Ltd.
	George S. Hall Ltd.
	Instyle Construction Ltd.
	Interserve
	Drake & Scull Technical Services
	Malla Rail
	Taylor Woodrow Management Ltd.
	Trillium
	Bailey Maintenance Services.

Motor Fuel Producers (Tax Income)

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was raised in tax on motor fuel producers in each year since 1997.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of tax receipts from motor fuel producers are not available.

Business Rates

Huw Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the method for calculating business rates for small rural public houses.

Dawn Primarolo: None. Small rural public houses, along with other business properties, are assessed for non-domestic rating purposes by Valuation Officers, appointed by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (as amended). The method of valuation for such properties is a matter for those involved in the assessment process; i.e. Valuation Officers, ratepayers and their professional advisers, and is subject to a right of appeal to an independent tribunal in the event of disagreement.

Mr. James Sharp

Huw Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will refer the case of Mr. James Sharp, a constituent, to the Treasury Solicitor.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue Solicitor, not the Treasury Solicitor, advises the Valuation Office Agency on rating litigation and he has been instructed in this case.

Mr. James Sharp

Huw Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the decision of the East Wales Valuation Tribunal in the case of Sharp v. Valuation Office.

Dawn Primarolo: The Treasury does not assess decisions of the Valuation Tribunal. Valuation Tribunals are independent bodies set up to deal with disputes in connection with, inter alia, non-domestic rating matters. Appeals against their decisions lie to the Lands Tribunal. It would be inappropriate for the Treasury to intervene with these independent bodies.

ECOFIN Council

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the outcome was of the ECOFIN Council held in Brussels on 6 November; what the Government's stance was on each issue discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I attended the ECOFIN Council.
	The Commission presented its communication on company taxation. I made it clear that while the Government might support some action to tackle barriers to cross-border business, they do not support the Commission's proposal for a consolidated company tax base in the EU. The specific proposals contained within the study will be considered in due course.
	The Commission presented its progress report on the Risk Capital Action Plan, highlighting the need for the EU to remove barriers to a single EU risk capital market. I stressed the UK's support for the objectives of the action plan, but expressed concern that the proposed prospectuses directive, as currently drafted, would have the effect of reducing the supply, and increasing the cost, of risk capital. The Council agreed that rapid progress on the Risk Capital Action Plan was necessary, in line with the timetable agreed at the Lisbon European Council.
	The Council noted Economic Policy Committee reports on the budgetary impact of aging populations and on the measurement of output gaps. It also noted a report from the Economic and Financial Committee on measures to improve the quality and timeliness of Eurozone statistics.
	The Council also adopted conclusions with respect to Ireland's compliance with the Council Recommendation of 12 February 2001, which recommended measures to bring the 2001 Irish budget in line with the 2000 Broad Economic Policy Guidelines. The Council agreed that the earlier Recommendation had lost part of its force, mainly due to exogenous shocks that have reduced inflationary pressures in the Irish economy.
	ECOFIN agreed that taxation of audiovisual and musical products should be examined by the Commission in the context of its wider review of VAT reduced rates, and not by the Culture Council, as taxation matters are for ECOFIN.
	No votes were taken at the meeting.

IR35

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to review the 5 per cent. ceiling for tax exempt expenses under IR35.

Dawn Primarolo: Service company workers affected by the service company legislation are entitled to all the same expenses as conventional employees. In addition to these expenses, service company workers are also entitled to a 5 per cent. flat rate reduction in recognition of the fact that there are costs associated with running a service company. We have no plans to review the level of this deduction.

Business Compliance Costs

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how the Inland Revenue will measure compliance costs to business as referred to in Cm 407; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington) on 31 October 2001, Official Report, column 746W.

National Insurance Numbers

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many checks on national insurance numbers will have been completed by the end of 2001.

Dawn Primarolo: During the 1999–2000 tax year, 626,641 payroll items were checked. Of these 288,924 errors were found and 6,223 cases were referred for potential fraud investigation.
	During the 2000–01 tax year, 1,035,796 payroll items were checked of which 770,308 were found to contain errors and 22,777 were referred for potential fraud investigation.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Local Education Authorities

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the role (a) the private sector and (b) the not-for-profit sector can play in the running of (i) English schools and (ii) English local education authorities; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 15 October 2001
	Local authorities and schools can already contract with the private and voluntary sector to support schools. The White Paper "Schools: achieving success" proposes partnerships between schools, local authorities and partners who might in some cases be from the private or voluntary sector. But schools will continue to be managed by the governing body and headteacher, even where they are supported by expertise from other sources. Local education authorities should secure high quality services from the most cost-effective source available, in accordance with best value principles. Sources include the education authority itself, or partnerships with other public, voluntary or private sector bodies, both profit making and not for profit. Individual local education authorities remain responsible and accountable for the services concerned, however they are provided.

Music Standards Fund

Martin Salter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many local authorities are receiving grants from the Music Standards Fund to provide instrumental tuition for pupils.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 5 November 2001
	All 150 local education authorities in England are receiving grants from the music standards fund. LEAs may spend their music standards fund grants in any way which enhances opportunities for pupils to access high quality musical education. This includes instrumental tuition.

Early Years Excellence

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she will announce the result of the bid by Somerford Infant School and the Grange Neighbourhood Nursery Partnership for an early years excellence centre.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 6 November
	49 early excellence centres are now developing practice in integrated care, education and family services. Working closely with sure start and neighbourhood nurseries, we will create up to 100 centres across the country by 2004. On 27 February we announced an expansion of the programme and invited expressions of interest in joining it. On 1 October we announced 14 new centres—the first in a series of designations resulting from those expressions of interest. The proposal for a centre at Somerford Infant School as part of the Grange neighbourhood nursery scheme was, at this stage, considered not yet ready to join the programme. Along with other proposals in need of further work Somerford Infant School was invited to develop its plans further. We are now considering proposals as part of a next batch of EEC designations and expect to make further announcements in the new year.

GCSE Grades

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of children achieved five or more GCSEs at A* to C grades in (a) schools with sixth forms and (b) schools without sixth forms, in 2001.

Ivan Lewis: holding answer 31 October 2001
	The proportion of 15-year-olds that achieved five or more GCSEs at A* to C was (a) 52.2 per cent. in schools with sixth forms and (b) 42.2 per cent. in schools without sixth forms in England in 2001.

Lone Parents

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will give a breakdown of the number of lone parents leaving the New Deal for Lone Parents for employment who have (a) at least one child below the age of five years three months and (b) all children aged over five years three months, for each month since the inception of the New Deal.

Nick Brown: I have been asked to reply.
	The information is in the table.
	
		Numbers leaving the new deal for lone parents into employment -- Great Britain up to July 2001
		
			   Age of youngest child(8)  
			 Month Under 5 years and 3 months 5 years 3 months and over 
		
		
			 December 1998 33 34 
			 January 1999 75 73 
			 February 1999 98 98 
			 March 1999 143 138 
			 April 1999 198 227 
			 May 1999 217 247 
			 June 1999 255 312 
			 July 1999 434 559 
			 August 1999 411 524 
			 September 1999 410 507 
			 October 1999 682 919 
			 November 1999 859 1,061 
			 December 1999 1,302 1,643 
			 January 2000 883 1,099 
			 February 2000 707 928 
			 March 2000 1,109 1,368 
			 April 2000 869 983 
			 May 2000 926 1,147 
			 June 2000 1,163 1,319 
			 July 2000 965 1,188 
			 August 2000 907 1,065 
			 September 2000 989 1,131 
			 October 2000 1,148 1,345 
			 November 2000 1,396 1,637 
			 December 2000 1,414 1,689 
			 January 2001 967 1,124 
			 February 2001 815 974 
			 March 2001 1,186 1,359 
			 April 2001 903 1,011 
			 May 2001 1,028 1,123 
			 June 2001 1,192 1,275 
			 July 2001 955 1,052 
			  
			 Total 24,639 29,159 
		
	
	(8) Age of youngest child when attended initial interview

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Civil Service

Chris Grayling: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many full-time employees work in the civil service.

Christopher Leslie: The most recent data were published on 8 November 2001. This showed that in April 2001 there were 436,400 full-time permanent staff in the civil service. There were also 11,400 full-time staff employed on a casual basis, bringing the total to 447,800.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Computer Crime

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft her Department recorded in (i) 2000 and (ii) 2001; and on how many occasions in those years computer systems have been illegally accessed by computer hackers (A) within and (B) outside his Department.

Patricia Hewitt: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 31 October 2001, Official Report, columns 692–93W.

Sellafield

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to extend the no-fly zone at Sellafield.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 8 November 2001
	There are no plans to extend the flying restrictions applying to Sellafield at the present time. Flying restrictions over Sellafield prohibit aircraft from flying over the nuclear installation below a height of 2,200 feet above mean sea level in a two nautical mile radius. The regulations currently applying are the Air Navigation (Restriction of Flying) (Nuclear Installations) Regulations 2001 which came into force on 11 May 2001. The regulations do not prohibit flights for the purpose of landing at or taking off from the helicopter landing area at the installation. Such flights are made with the permission of the person in charge of the installation and in accordance with any conditions to which that permission is subject.

Sellafield

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if the B215 building at the Sellafield site has been designed to resist a plane crash.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 8 November 2001
	All nuclear licensees are required by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the safety regulator, to ensure that they maintain valid safety cases for operations on each of their sites. Safety cases need to take due account of external hazards such as plane crashes at nuclear installations. HSE is satisfied that the safety case applying to the Sellafield site, including building 215, took appropriate account of the risks of an accidental air crash.
	The UK's civil nuclear sites apply stringent security measures regulated by the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS), the security regulator. The security regulator works closely with the Health and Safety Executive, the safety regulator, which provides advice on the safety implications of events, including external hazards such as plane crashes, at nuclear installations. Security and safety precautions at nuclear sites are kept under regular review. Both regulators are reviewing all relevant precautions in the light of the recent terrorist attacks in the USA. It is not Government policy to disclose details of security measures taken at civil nuclear sites.

Employment Agencies

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations she has received on the draft Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2001; what assessment she has made of the effect of such regulations on employment agencies and businesses; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: We received representations from workers' organisations, employers' bodies, trade associations, agencies, employment businesses, individuals and other interested parties. The regulatory impact assessment for the draft conduct regulations found that they should reduce recruitment costs for employers across the economy, and make the labour market more efficient and flexible. In addition, clarifying the contractual position of temporary workers will help ensure they get the employment rights to which they are entitled.
	Our objective in overhauling the existing regulations, which date from 1976, is simpler, clearer, regulations, which are relevant to the market of today and of the future. The proposed new regulations are in many cases updated versions of existing requirements. They are designed to benefit recruitment agencies, those employed through them and hirers. They will remove unnecessary restrictions on agencies' operations and the services they offer, while protecting the interests of work-seekers and vulnerable groups.

Paternity Leave

Huw Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement about the provision of paternity leave for fathers of multiple births.

Alan Johnson: The Employment Bill introduced on 7 November includes a new right to two weeks' paid paternity leave for fathers following the birth of their child. The Bill includes provisions for regulations to be made to address cases where more than one child is born as a result of the same pregnancy. Future regulations will cover these special circumstances.

Royal Ordnance (Chorley)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what priority the Royal Ordnance site has been given in order to promote the use of a brownfield site.

Alan Johnson: A very high priority has been given to the Royal Ordnance site, which is identified as one of 11 strategic sites in the North West Development Agency's regional strategy. A large part of the site has already been acquired by a development consortium, and Chorley Borough Council are currently in negotiations with the present owner to acquire 50 hectares of the site for re-use as a major inward investment site. This will see the return of one of the largest brownfield sites in Lancashire to productive use.

Royal Ordnance (Chorley)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment the North West Regional Development Agency has made of the benefits involved with the use of the Royal Ordnance site in Chorley.

Alan Johnson: Chorley borough council, with the backing of the North West Development Agency, are currently negotiating the purchase of part of the Royal Ordnance site. Officers of the North West Development Agency are working closely with the Council to assess the likely costs and benefits of converting the site to make it suitable for inward investment.

Nuclear Power Stations

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has for the future use of the site at Bradwell power station.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 8 November 2001
	None. The site belongs to BNFL, which has announced publicly its planned lifetime limits for Magnox power stations. The power station at Bradwell is due to stop generating electricity next year.

Nuclear Power Stations

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations she has received proposing the building of new nuclear power stations; and what plans she has for the construction of new nuclear power stations.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 8 November 2001
	My Department has no plans to build nuclear power stations nor has it received any proposals from electricity generating companies to do so.

Universal Bank

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if all those in receipt of benefit pension and tax credit payments will be automatically eligible for a Post Office card account after the introduction of the Universal Bank.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 6 November 2001
	It is the Government's policy to encourage people to use the type of account which is most appropriate for their needs. The Post Office card account is intended primarily for people who are unable or unwilling to open even a basic bank account, and it is the Government's intention to promote the take up and use of basic and other bank accounts. As a consequence, this matter is being considered within the context of an overall migration and marketing strategy on which a great deal of work is currently under way.

Post Offices

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many post offices there are in each parliamentary constituency; and how many of them derive more than 40 per cent. of their income from the Benefits Agency.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 31 October 2001
	I have been advised by Consignia that they do not hold figures on post office numbers by parliamentary constituency. The latest information available remains a special exercise undertaken by the Post Office in 1999 to determine the numbers of post offices in each parliamentary constituency and how many of them derived more than 40 per cent. of their income from the Benefits Agency.
	Consignia have not repeated his exercise but the answer was set out in the reply given to the then hon. Member for Birmingham Erdington on 29 November 1999, Official Report, column 22W.

Ilisu Dam

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with the Prime Minister in relation to export credit guarantee to underwrite the Ilisu Dam project; and when the last discussion took place.

Patricia Hewitt: I have had no discussions with my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in relation to export credit guarantee to underwrite the Ilisu Dam project.

Ilisu Dam

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the human rights impact of the Ilisu Dam project in Turkey;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the progress made in providing relocation packages for people who would need to be resettled as a result of the Ilisu Dam project in Turkey;
	(3)  if she will make a statement on how the Ilisu Dam project in Turkey meets each of the four conditions that the Government have set for export credit guarantees;
	(4)  what assessment she has made of the progress made in ensuring that the Ilisu Dam in Turkey will not cut off water supplies to Syria and Iraq in times of drought.

Patricia Hewitt: I have commissioned reports from independent consultants on the environmental impact assessment report and the resettlement action plan prepared in respect of the Ilisu Dam project. These reports, together with comments received from the public, are being considered and discussed with other Government Departments with an interest in the project, in particular the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. When our consideration is complete, I will make a statement. No date has been set for a decision regarding ECGD support for the project.

Flexible Working Hours

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to give employees the right to request flexible working hours; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: In my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State's reply to the hon. Member for Preston (Mr. Hendrick) on 28 June 2001, Official Report, column 149W, she announced the formation of the Work and Parents Taskforce to look at how parents and employers can be encouraged to consider flexible working patterns that suit them both. The Taskforce is due to report this month. The Government hope to respond to the Taskforce's recommendations soon after.

Correspondence

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make it her policy to ensure that all letters sent by Ministers in her Department to hon. Members are signed by the Minister replying or by one of his or her private secretaries and that the use of facsimile signatures inserted by computer is abandoned.

Patricia Hewitt: I can confirm that I have asked that all letters sent by Ministers in my Department to hon. Members, other than letters which are going to all or a large number of MPs and communications sent by e-mail, are approved and signed in person by the Minister, or approved by the Minister and signed by their private secretary.

Correspondence

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she will reply to the letters dated 21 July and 25 September from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan regarding Whitelink Seafoods, Fraserburgh.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 25 October 2001
	I understand that my right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade replied to the hon. Gentleman's letters of 21 July and 25 September on 7 November.
	She will write further to explain why there was such an exceptional delay in this correspondence.

Sub-post Offices

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the funding of sub-post offices.

Douglas Alexander: To start the implementation of all the recommendations of the Performance and Innovation Unit, the Government have committed £270 million of support over three years for modernisation of the post office network. That ring fenced funding is being allocated in accordance with an agreed robust business case from Post Office Ltd.
	£15 million has been earmarked for the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions to help sustain and improve post offices in deprived urban areas. Up to £25 million has been allocated this financial year for the Government General Practitioner ("Your Guide") trial in Leicestershire which began in July.
	The Government are committed to providing transitional financial assistance to rural post offices and decisions on this will be taken following advice from the Postal Services Commission which is expected in the weeks to come. In addition we have made available a £2 million fund to support volunteer and community initiatives to maintain or reopen post office facilities in rural areas where traditional services would otherwise close.

Royal Mail

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list those parts of the country in which the Royal Mail has withdrawn a morning collection in the last 12 months.

Douglas Alexander: Under the terms of the licence issued by the independent regulator, the Postal Services Commission, to Consignia to provide postal services, the company is required to make at least one collection of relevant postal packets every working day from each access point. Subject to this requirement the timing and number of collections is an operational issue for Consignia.
	I am advised that changes to the frequency of mail collections are being assessed on an area by area basis and that therefore no national data are available in the format requested.

Nuclear Security

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps she is taking to ensure the security of nuclear power stations.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 9 November 2001
	The UK's civil nuclear sites apply stringent security measures regulated by the Office for Civil Nuclear Security (OCNS), the security regulator. The security regulator works closely with the Health and Safety Executive, the safety regulator, which provides advice on the safety implications of events, including external hazards such as plane crashes, at nuclear installations. Security and safety precautions at nuclear sites are kept under regular review. Both regulators are reviewing all relevant precautions in the light of the recent terrorist attacks in the USA. It is not Government policy to disclose details of security measures taken at civil nuclear sites.

Greenhouse Gases

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made in setting up a greenhouse gases emissions trading scheme.

Michael Meacher: I have been asked to reply.
	In August 2001, DEFRA published the Framework for the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, which sets out the structure of the scheme and what firms need to do to participate. The UK scheme will be the first economy- wide emissions trading scheme in the world.
	Currently, we are in the pre-registration period. Firms are registering their interest in the scheme and approaching the Department about their eligibility for joining. For those firms taking on voluntary absolute emissions caps, there is also the opportunity to prepare to bid for a share of the up to £43 million per annum incentive offered by Government. The incentive will be allocated via an auction early next year. Emissions trading will go-live in April 2002. Several forward trades have already taken place.

PRIME MINISTER

Renewable Energy

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Prime Minister what recent representations he has received from the Performance and Information Unit regarding progress towards meeting the Government's targets for renewable energy supply; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Prime Minister when the Cabinet Office report on UK energy needs will be published; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: holding answer 8 November 2001
	The Performance and Innovation Unit has published its analysis of how to allocate the extra £100 million support to boost the development of the UK renewable energy industry. This money will help us reach our target that 10 per cent. of electricity sales by licensed suppliers will come from renewable sources eligible for the renewables obligation by 2010.
	The unit is conducting a wide ranging analysis of the UK's energy needs. It will be presenting its findings to me by the end of the year.

Public Policy

John Maples: To ask the Prime Minister what the (a) names and (b) functions are of the units dealing with the formulation and the delivery of public policy which are answerable to (i) the Prime Minister, (ii) the Deputy Prime Minister and (iii) Ministers in the Cabinet Office.

Tony Blair: holding answer 8 November 2001
	For information on my office, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on 19 October 2001, Official Report, column 1361W.
	For details about the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministers in the Cabinet Office, I refer the hon. Member to the answer that my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister gave to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) on 11 July 2001, Official Report, column 573W.
	On Friday 9 November I announced that Baroness Morgan would join my office as the new Head of Political and Government Relations in Downing Street. My hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Mrs. Roche) will take over the Ministerial responsibilities within the Cabinet Office for equal opportunities and the Women's Unit, reporting to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry as the Cabinet Minister with responsibility for this area. My hon. Friend will continue to report to the Deputy Prime Minister on her existing responsibilities.

Policy Co-ordination

John Maples: To ask the Prime Minister how many civil servants working directly for (a) the Prime Minister, (b) the Deputy Prime Minister and (c) Ministers in the Cabinet Office are responsible for the central co-ordination and progress of policy.

Tony Blair: holding answer 8 November 2001
	As at 1 September 2001, there were 27 civil servants and special advisers working in the Policy Directorate, European Adviser's Office and Foreign Adviser's Office in No. 10. In the Cabinet Office, there were 244 in the Cabinet Secretariats; 12 in the Delivery Unit; 20.5 in the Deputy Prime Minister's Central Policy Group; 62 in the Regional Co-ordination Unit; 39 in the Social Exclusion Unit, and 40 in the Women and Equality Unit and the Equality Secretariat.

Departmental Changes

John Maples: To ask the Prime Minister in respect of each Government Department which has been renamed or had its responsibilities altered since the last general election, what the purpose of the changes was; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: holding answer 8 November 2001
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Mr. Burstow) on 2 July 2001, Official Report, column 31W.

European Leaders

Keith Vaz: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his meeting with European leaders at No. 10 Downing street on 4 November.

Tony Blair: This was a useful and productive discussion, and an important part of our effort to keep in close touch with partners in the campaign against terrorism.

Fishery Harbours

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on departmental responsibility for fishery harbours.

Tony Blair: The Transfer of Functions (Fishery Harbours) Order 2001 was laid before Parliament today. It transfers legislative responsibility for English fishery harbours from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to the Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions.
	The transfer follows a recommendation of the 1998 Review of Trust Ports, and will improve the efficiency of the Government's involvement in harbour legislation. A consultation exercise showed wide support for the transfer.

Work Force Development

David Chaytor: To ask the Prime Minister when he will publish the Performance and Innovation Unit report on work force development.

Tony Blair: The PIU report on work force development is expected to be published by the end of the year.

Voluntary Organisations

Mark Hoban: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the Performance and Innovation Unit's review of the legal and regulatory framework for voluntary organisations.

Tony Blair: I announced details of the review in the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Halton (Derek Twigg) on 3 July 2001, Official Report, column 93W.
	As part of the consultation process, public events have been held in London, Manchester, Llandrindod Wells, Edinburgh and Belfast. There have also been a number of seminars with experts in the field. To encourage wider participation the review team is also posting working papers on the Performance and Innovation Unit's website for comment (http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/ innovation/2001/charity/main.shtml).

HEALTH

Care Standards (Young Adults)

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the financial impact will be on individual homes and local authorities of implementing national care standards for younger adults.

Jacqui Smith: It is not possible to quantify the effect on individual homes of implementing the national minimum standards for younger adults. For some there will be none, for some others the effects will be minimal.
	The resources provided for personal social services are increasing by, on average, 3.4 per cent. per annum in real terms over the next three years. We expect home owners will cover the costs of meeting the standards through the fees they charge. Local authorities are funded to meet these additional costs.

GPs

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many new GPs were recruited in 1999–2000 and 2000–01.

John Hutton: The latest data available are for September 2000. Data for September 2001 will be available at the end of January 2002. The information is shown in the table. The number of general practitioners registrars (GPs in training) increased from 1,520 in September 1999 to 1,659 in September 2000, an increase of 9.1 per cent.
	
		Unrestricted Principals and Equivalents (UPEs)(9) analysis of workforce and flows, 1999–2000 -- England
		
			   Numbers  
			   1999–2000  
		
		
			 UPEs 27,591(10)  27,704(10) 
			 joiners  1,203  
			 of which:
			 new joiners  958  
			 re-joiners  245  
			 leavers  1,090  
			 Change in UPEs  113  
		
	
	(9) UPEs includes GMS unrestricted principals, PMS contracted GPs and PMS salaried GPs
	(10) Number of UPEs are numbers at 1 October 1999 and 30 September 2000
	Other rows relate to changes between successive October/ September censuses
	Source:
	Department of Health General Medical and Personal Medical Services Statistics

Student Nurses

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the timetable of his review of funding for student nurses.

John Hutton: The Department completed its review last year and following this Ministers considered options for amendment of the current support arrangements. Following the announcement in the March 2001 Budget of additional funding for the National Health Service, the decision was made to direct extra money to all NHS funded students, using an across the board increase in basic bursary rates, rather than targeting specific groups. With effect from September this year bursary rates were increased by 10.4 per cent., the biggest increase since bursaries were introduced in the late 1980s.

Head Injury

Roger Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to commission research into the incidence and prevalence of head injury.

Hazel Blears: The Department has supported, and continues to support, research into head injury through the national health service research programmes. The Department welcomes high quality research applications in response to nationally advertised calls for proposals.
	In 1999–2000 the Medical Research Council spent almost £2 million on research related to the area of head injury. Priorities for research are kept under review and reflect analysis of the burden of disease, potential benefits and Government priorities.

Departmental Assets

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what stocks of (a) antiques, (b) paintings and (c) fine wines are held by his Department; if he will list such assets sold over the last three years together with the sale proceeds from such transactions; what plans he has to sell further such assets over the period of the current comprehensive spending review; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The Department does not held any stocks of antiques, paintings and fine wines and no such assets have been sold over the last three years.

Eye Tests

Matthew Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to improve access to NHS eye tests.

Jacqui Smith: Since we extended eligibility to free national health service sight tests to people aged 60 or over, with effect from April 1999, nearly 3 million more people are receiving NHS sight tests each year. We have no plans to extend the eligibility criteria further, but we wish to publicise the benefits to eye health of having a regular sight test and eye examination.

Strategic Health Authorities

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health within which statutory format the proposed strategic health authorities will operate from April 2002.

John Hutton: holding answer 5 November 2001
	We plan to bring forward a bill in the current Session to provide the necessary powers to introduce strategic health authorities and to reallocate current health authority functions to primary care trusts. Subject to parliamentary approval strategic health authorities will be introduced as soon as possible after Royal Assent.
	The reduction in the number of health authorities from April 2002 will be achieved using existing powers under section 8 of the National Health Service Act 1977.

MRI Scanners

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the sources of expenditure were on new linear accelerators and MRI scanners in each of the last two years.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 6 November 2001
	Some £43 million has been made available for linear accelerators and some £26 million for MRI scanners from the New Opportunities Fund cancer initiative from September 1999 to date. These sums have purchased 57 linear accelerators and 36 MRI scanners. In parallel, the £100 million national health service central fund initiative for cancer diagnostic equipment which began in April 2000 is supporting investment in CT scanners.
	These sums are in addition to equipment purchased locally by NHS trusts. Full information is not held centrally, but at least eight linear accelerators and 26 MRI scanners supported by trust funding have been installed over the same period.
	Future NHS funding for 45 linear accelerators and 50 MRI scanners is also planned as announced in the NHS Cancer Plan.

NHS Patients

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with which EU nations his Department has had discussions over the treatment of NHS patients.

John Hutton: holding answer 6 November 2001
	The Department has had discussions with all other member states on the financial consequences of treatments provided under Regulation (EEC) 1408/71, including referrals of individual patients for treatment using the E112 arrangements.
	Following recent rulings of the European Court of Justice, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State notified both the Commission and other member states of his decision to amend domestic legislation to clarify that health authorities and trusts may commission treatment from other member states of the European Economic Area. Officials have since met or corresponded with representatives of hospital providers from Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Norway.

Nursing Care

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons (a) the consultation process on free nursing care arrangements ran for four weeks and (b) the consultations on care standard regulations ran for 10 weeks.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 9 November 2001
	Consultation on the care standards regulations lasted for a period of 12 weeks and this is the usual amount of time for carrying out a consultation. However, on free nursing care, it was necessary, exceptionally, to reduce the period of formal consultation to four weeks in order to ensure that individuals could benefit financially from these arrangements from 1 October. In recognition of this, extra efforts were made to ensure that those most interested were aware of the consultation. Many organisations were sent copies of the guidance and invited to comment. Requests to extend the deadline from individuals and organisation were viewed sympathetically.

Nursing Care

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health authorities, primary care groups and primary care trusts had not appointed (a) a nursing home co-ordinator and (b) a lead nurse by 1 November.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 9 November 2001
	As far as we are aware, all the relevant English health authorities and primary care trusts have people in place to fill these roles.

NHS Trusts (Franchises)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria he will use to determine when an NHS trust might be made subject of a franchise arrangement.

John Hutton: If a national health service body is not performing one of its functions adequately or at all, or there are significant failings in the way the trust is being run my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has the powers, under section 13 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001, to intervene.
	In the case of NHS trusts that have recently received a zero star performance rating they are required to provide an action plan, agreed with the Department, to address the particular areas of performance which they need to improve. Franchise arrangements will only be considered if these trusts fail to make progress against their action plan.

GP Partnerships

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many applicants there were on average for a general practitioner's partnership in 1985; how many there were on average in the last 12 months; what representations he has had from general practitioner about difficulties filling vacancies in their practices; and what is the average time taken to fill such vacancies.

John Hutton: There were an average of 6.9 applicants per general practitioner vacancy outstanding at some stage during the period 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2001 in England and Wales.
	The average time to fill each GP vacancy was 4.8 months.
	There is no information available on the average number of applicants in 1985.
	The Department regularly meets the General Practitioner Committee of the British Medical Association to discuss issues affecting recruitment and retention.

Nurses

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many low cost housing units for nurses in London have been found by the Department's housing tsar.

John Hutton: 802 units have been provided so far with agreements signed for a further 120 units due for occupation next year. We are well on target to deliver the additional 2000 units of affordable housing units for national health service staff in London which is the target set in the NHS Plan. We expect to exceed this target.
	In addition London NHS trusts are refurbishing 2,500 units in London, and 2,300 units of accommodation will be provided in London as part of the starter home initiative which will benefit some 5,000 NHS key workers. Overall we will have helped 7,500 individual staff in the NHS by mid-2003.

Nurses

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many nursing posts there are (a) in the UK and (b) in London; and how many unfilled vacancies there are.

John Hutton: As at 31 March 2001 there were 9,000 (3.4 per cent.) qualified nursing and midwifery posts in England which had been vacant for three months or more. The equivalent figure for the London area was 2,960 (6.4 per cent.).
	Information on vacancies for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved Assemblies.

Mental Health

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the NHS budget was spent on mental health in (a) 1997–98, (b) 1998–99, (c) 1999–2000, (d) 2000–01 and (e) the current year to date.

Jacqui Smith: Spend on mental health services as a percentage of total national health service spend was 12.3 per cent. in 1997–98, 12.1 per cent. in 1998–99 and 12.5 per cent. in 1999–2000. Information from health authorities and NHS trusts for subsequent years is not yet available.
	The figure given for 1999–2000 is not directly comparable to previous years or future years, 1999–2000 represents the first year that primary care group expenditure was included in the calculation and the formula used to apportion the expenditure was based on estimated data. In future years the data for primary care groups will be more detailed and the resultant figure for percentage spend will be more accurate.

MRSA

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the incidence of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus in hospitals was in each of the last five years.

John Hutton: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Romsey (Sandra Gidley) on 25 October 2001, Official Report, columns 341–42W.

Health Spending

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the UK is spending on health as a percentage of GDP in the current financial year; and what the comparable figures are for (a) Spain, (b) France, (c) Germany and (d) Italy.

John Hutton: For the year 2001–02, total health spending in the United Kingdom is estimated to be 7.3 per cent. of gross domestic product.
	The best available comparable data for other countries comes from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The latest data for Spain, France, Germany and Italy are for 1998, and in calendar years rather than financial years. The spend as a percentage of gross domestic product of these countries and the United Kingdom can be seen in the table.
	
		Percentage 
		
			 Country 1998 
		
		
			 Spain 7.0 
			 France 9.3 
			 Germany 10.3 
			 Italy 7.7 
			 United Kingdom 6.8 
		
	
	Source:
	OECD Health Data 2001

NHS Trusts (Franchises)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what performance measures will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of a franchise arrangement.

John Hutton: If a national health service body is required to enter into a franchise arrangement under Section 13 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001, it will be expected to agree an action plan with the Department that addresses its particular areas of weakness. Successful implementation of the action plan will be the key criterion in evaluating the effectiveness of franchise arrangements.

National Blood Service

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the National Blood Service's appropriate use of blood and blood components group contingency plans for prolonged periods of blood shortages will be published for consultation.

John Hutton: Consultation is currently taking place with health professionals who use blood to establish what measures are practicable to introduce into the national health service.

National Blood Service

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the National Blood Service's appropriate use of blood and blood components group plans to minimize the risk of transfusion-transmitted vCJD.

John Hutton: The National Blood Service appropriate use of blood group aims to minimise the theoretical risk of transfusion-transmitted vCJD by ensuring that blood and blood components are only ever transfused when clinically indicated. This is in addition to measures introduced by the Government to reduce the theoretical risk of transmitting vCJD through blood—leucodepletion of blood for transfusion and the importation from the United States of America of plasma for fractionation.

National Blood Service

Dai Havard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what kind of blood substitute therapies and alternatives to blood transfusions the National Blood Service's appropriate use of blood and blood components group is examining; and who it is consulting on these matters.

John Hutton: The National Blood Service appropriate use of blood group is looking at simple pre-operative measures to avoid the need for transfusion, including assessment of haemoglobin levels to determine whether transfusion is necessary; correcting anaemia with appropriate vitamin and iron supplements; volume replacement with solutions other than blood components and autologous blood transfusion in all its forms.
	The group is carrying out wide consultation with experts in the field both inside and outside the National Blood Service including the Jehovah's Witnesses Hospital Liaison branch.
	The four United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers held a "Better Blood Transfusion" conference on 29 October 2001. The main aim of the conference was to help set the priorities for blood transfusion in the national health service for the coming three to five years. One of the important issues discussed was how to avoid the unnecessary use of blood in clinical practice in the face of decreasing supplies and numbers of blood donors. We will be taking work forward on this and other issues considered at the conference and further guidance will be issued to the NHS in 2002. Information about the conference is available on www.doh.gov.uk/bbt2

HOME DEPARTMENT

DNA Databases

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his policy is on the creation, maintenance and retention of DNA databases in combating terrorism in the United Kingdom.

John Denham: Our policy on DNA is the same for combating all crime. The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 included an amendment modifying the restriction on the use of DNA taken under the provisions of the Terrorism Act in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to allow their use additionally for the prevention and detection of any crime, the investigation of any offence or the conduct of any investigation.
	The fingerprint and DNA databases are registered with the Data Protection Registrar and information stored on them is covered by data protection legislation. Additional safeguards ensure that this information can only be used for the prevention and detection of a crime, the investigation of an offence and the conduct of a prosecution.

Strangeways

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the handcuffing of a prisoner at Strangeways during his chemotherapy treatment for cancer at North Manchester General Hospital.

Beverley Hughes: Following a risk assessment, a prisoner receiving treatment at the North Manchester General Hospital was released on temporary licence so that he could receive treatment without escort and without the application of any restraints. However, he breached the conditions of his licence by disappearing from the permitted area of the hospital, and his licence was revoked pending a full reassessment of risk to the public. During this period, lasting six days, he was handcuffed and escorted by prison staff. On completion of the risk assessment, the Governor was satisfied that the prisoner had not deliberately breached his licence conditions. He was therefore again released on licence and all security measures have been withdrawn. It is Prison Service policy that restraints should normally be removed at the request of medical staff. No such requests were made in this case.

Imitation Firearms

Judy Mallaber: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to restrict the availability of imitation firearms.

John Denham: There are already serious penalties for threatening someone with an imitation firearm, or for using one to resist arrest or with criminal intent. In view of the considerable legal and practical issues involved the Government are not persuaded that fresh legislative measures are warranted. We will, however, continue to look at what further measures might usefully be taken to tackle misuse.

Anthrax Attacks

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hoax anthrax attacks have been reported since 11 September; and if he will make a statement.

David Blunkett: holding answer 6 November 2001
	The Metropolitan Police started recording the number of hoax anthrax attacks on 9 October, with the rest of the United Kingdom's police forces following suit on 19 October.
	Since then, there have been 2,700 false alarms, scares, threats and hoaxes relating to suspicious packages and mail items.
	With the exception of Halloween, these incidents have dropped significantly since 23 October.

Passport Fees

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on passport fees.

Angela Eagle: The Privy Council has made an Order in Council, the Consular Fees (Amendment) Order 2001, which gives authority for an increase in passport fees in the United Kingdom. The increase will take effect on 14 January 2002. The fee for a standard 32 page passport will increase from £28 to £30 and for a 48 page passport from £38 to £40. The fee for amending an existing passport will increase from £17 to £18. The cost of a passport for a child will increase from £14.80 to £16. The additional charge for those making applications in person in the United Kingdom will increase from £12 to £15. The fee for a collective passport, for organised trips for schools and youth groups, will increase from £40 to £42.
	Two new services will be introduced for 14 January 2002 at passport office public counters. A one week guaranteed service will cost an additional £15. A same day premium service will cost an additional £30.
	This is the first increase in passport fees for two years. In relation to the cost of travel abroad, a fee of £30 for a standard 10 year passport still represents very good value for money.

Departmental Publications

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many publications were issued by his Department in each of the last four years.

David Blunkett: The number of publications issued each year by the Home Office Communication Directorate (CD) and the Research, Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS) since 1999 are as follows:
	
		
			  Financial year Total number of publications issued by CD and RDS 
		
		
			 1 April 1999–31 March 2000 443 
			 1 April 2000–31 March 2001 439 
			 1 April 2001-to date(11) 373 
		
	
	(11) 31 October 2001
	Figures are provided for the period from 1 April 1999. Before this date production was not centralised and it is therefore not possible to provide a complete list of publications prior to this date.
	The publications produced reflect the full range of Home Office responsibilities, including for example, police recruitment and crime prevention materials, research reports, publications issued to victims of crime and advice on fire safety issues.

Youth Offender Panels

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to increase the use of youth offender panels; what steps he has taken to increase participation in the scheme; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: Referral orders and their associated youth offender panels have been piloted in seven areas in England and Wales since summer 2000. They are due to be implemented throughout England and Wales on 1 April 2002. The Government and the Youth Justice Board are supporting youth offending teams' preparations, with finance, training and guidance. From 1 April youth courts will refer all young offenders aged 10–17 who plead guilty and are convicted for the first time to a youth offender panel unless the offending is so serious as to warrant custody or the court orders an absolute discharge or makes a hospital order.

Youth Offender Panels

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for which offences teenagers may be referred to a youth offender panel.

John Denham: Under the referral order legislation, the youth court will refer all young offenders aged 10–17 who plead guilty and are convicted for the first time to a youth offender panel, unless the offending is so serious as to warrant custody or the court orders an absolute discharge or makes a hospital order.

Youth Offender Panels

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the extent is of the powers of youth offender panels; and how binding their judgments are.

John Denham: Youth offender panels meet young offenders sentenced to referral orders, their parents or guardians and, where appropriate, victims. They agree contracts with the young offenders, including interventions aimed at preventing re-offending and reparation to individual victims or the wider community. The contracts last between three and 12 months, the term of the referral order as set by the court. Offenders who do not agree to contracts or fail to carry out contracts they have agreed may be referred back to the court and an alternative sentence may be given.

Residency

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many applications for residency on behalf of sponsors of British citizens were granted in 2000; how many such applications were received in 2000; how many such applications have so far been received in 2001; how many have so far been granted; and what is the average length of time between such an application being received by the Home Office and its granting;
	(2)  how many applications for spouses of British citizens for residency are pending; and how long on average it took between applications being received, and their being opened in the last 12 months.

Angela Eagle: The latest published information relates to decisions on applications for indefinite leave to remain on the basis of marriage to a British citizen in 2000. Some 34,840 applications were granted on this basis.
	Information on the number of applications lodged, average decision time and corresponding data for 2001 is not available. We are also not able to provide information on pending applications for spouse applications and average time between receipt and opening.

Residency

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his officials received an application on behalf of Mrs. Melissa Gryspeerdt of Chippenham, Wiltshire; when they expect to process it; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: On the information provided by the hon. Member, I cannot at present confirm the receipt of any application on behalf of Mrs. Melissa Gryspeerdt. If the hon. Member or his constituent is able to provide more detailed information, including Mrs. Gryspeerdt's maiden name, the date of posting and the recorded delivery details, we will make every effort to trace the application as a matter of priority.

Sex Offences

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on his plans in relation to reforming the law on sex offences and the recommendations of the report, "Setting the boundaries: Reforming the law on sex offences".

Keith Bradley: We received more than 700 responses to the consultation paper "Setting the Boundaries: Reforming the law on sex offences". We are currently analysing the responses to each chapter and will be making an announcement of our conclusions as soon as this is completed.

Computer Crime

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft his Department recorded in 2000 and 2001; and on how many occasions in 2000 and 2001 computer systems in his Department have been illegally accessed by computer hackers (i) within and (ii) outside his Department.

John Denham: Official records compiled under the Government scheme for reporting Information Technology (IT) security incidents, the Unified Incident Reporting and Alert Scheme (UNIRAS), show the following figures.
	The number of cases of computer hacking detected was 0 in 2000 and 0 in 2001.
	The number of cases of fraud detected was 0 in 2000 and 0 in 2001.

Asylum

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of racial harassment were reported to the National Asylum Support Service's Investigations Team by asylum seekers in (a) 2000 and (b) 2001 broken down by (i) month and (ii) region; and if he will make a statement.

Angela Eagle: holding answer 7 November 2001
	The number of allegations of racial harassment reported to the National Asylum Support Services (NASS) Investigations Team in (a) 2000 and (b) 2001 is as follows.
	
		
			 Year Number 
		
		
			 2000  
			 May (12)4 
			 June (12)19 
			 July (12)38 
			 August (12)46 
			 September (12)36 
			 October 36 
			 November 40 
			 December 32 
			   
			 2001  
			 January 47 
			 February 71 
			 March 66 
			 April 64 
			 May 78 
			 June 74 
			 July 71 
			 August 103 
			 September 72 
			 October 122 
		
	
	(12) The performance Monitoring Investigations Section (PMI) became fully operational in October 2000. Figures prior to October 2000 represent those cases reported to the Investigations Sections. Further allegations may have been investigated within the wider Operations Section within NASS but there are no statistics for this
	The figures are not broken down by region. The figures represent the reports which NASS's Investigations Section received and information on who reported the incident is not recorded.

Asylum

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Sri Lankans have sought political asylum in the UK in each of the last three years.

Angela Eagle: The information is provided in the table.
	
		Applications for asylum to the UK, excluding dependents, from nationals of Sri Lanka, 1998–2000(13)
		
			 Year Applications 
		
		
			 1998 3,505 
			 1999 5,130 
			 2000(14) 6,395 
			 2001(14),(15) 3,060 
		
	
	(13) All data rounded to nearest five
	(14) Provisional
	(15) January to July
	The information is published regularly in the annual statistical bulletin Asylum Statistics United Kingdom, a copy of which is available in the Library, and from the RDS website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/ immigration1.html

Asylum

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for asylum were made in each of the last 12 months by (a) Afghans, (b) Sri Lankans, (c) Somalians and (d) Iraqi Kurds; what proportion were (i) granted and (ii) refused; what proportion were granted exceptional leave to remain; and what proportion have been removed.

Angela Eagle: The latest available information is provided in the table and relates to the number of applications and initial decisions made under normal procedures for principal applicants. Data on initial decisions are independent of applications data, and do not necessarily relate to applications lodged in the same period. Information on Iraqi Kurds is not available.
	Following the initial decision, applicants have a right of appeal to the Immigration Appellate Authority.
	Reliable information on the proportion of those refused asylum or exceptional leave to remain in the latest 12 months who were subsequently removed is not available. Information on the nationality of persons removed is not available due to data recording problems.
	Information on asylum applications and initial decisions is published regularly in the annual statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom", a copy of which is available in the Library, and from the RDS website: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1/html
	
		Applications for asylum to the UK and initial decisions(16) for nationals of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Iraq, excluding dependents, August 2000 to July 2001(17)
		
			 Month Applications Initial decisions Grants of asylum Percentage of initial decisions Grant of ELR Percentage of initial decisions Refusals Percentage ofinitial decisions 
		
		
			  Afghanistan 
			 August 2000 495 180 15 9 40 23 120 68 
			 September 2000 535 175 10 6 30 16 135 77 
			 October 2000 560 410 45 11 30 7 340 82 
			 November 2000 550 515 115 23 110 22 285 56 
			 December 2000 535 545 130 24 255 47 160 29 
			 January 2001 510 1,020 175 17 555 55 290 28 
			 February 2001 615 1,320 225 17 785 59 310 24 
			 March 2001 680 2,045 375 18 1,215 59 450 22 
			 April 2001 700 930 195 21 550 59 185 20 
			 May 2001 900 1,025 220 22 615 60 190 19 
			 June 2001 910 985 220 22 600 61 165 17 
			 July 2001 810 875 220 25 485 55 165 19 
			  
			 Total 7,790 10,020 1,955 19 5,265 53 2,800 28 
			  
			  Sri Lanka 
			 August 2000 445 470 45 10 25 6 365 78 
			 September 2000 470 405 40 10 15 4 320 79 
			 October 2000 565 675 105 15 10 1 565 83 
			 November 2000 675 895 110 12 10 1 775 87 
			 December 2000 610 770 90 12 20 3 655 85 
			 January 2001 570 1,240 140 11 40 3 1,065 86 
			 February 2001 435 1,495 205 14 40 3 1,245 83 
			 March 2001 410 1,950 260 13 90 5 1,600 82 
			 April 2001 445 865 125 15 60 7 675 78 
			 May 2001 425 805 105 13 40 5 660 82 
			 June 2001 415 695 85 12 30 4 585 84 
			 July 2001 355 565 85 15 30 5 450 80 
			  
			 Total 5,815 10,835 1,395 13 415 4 8,965 83 
			  
			  Somalia 
			 August 2000 615 680 210 31 125 19 325 48 
			 September 2000 545 540 95 18 60 11 360 67 
			 October 2000 485 445 105 23 30 6 315 70 
			 November 2000 435 615 185 30 70 11 360 58 
			 December 2000 420 525 160 30 80 16 285 54 
			 January 2001 500 705 260 37 155 22 295 41 
			 February 2001 380 805 345 43 165 20 300 37 
			 March 2001 470 1,135 390 34 265 24 480 42 
			 April 2001 420 565 240 42 140 25 185 33 
			 May 2001 495 700 290 42 175 25 235 33 
			 June 2001 505 460 180 39 135 29 145 32 
			 July 2001 710 520 185 36 170 33 165 32 
			  
			 Total 5,980 7,690 2,645 34 1,570 20 3,440 45 
			  
			  Iraq 
			 August 2000 870 510 80 15 220 43 210 41 
			 September 2000 1,035 345 45 14 105 30 200 58 
			 October 2000 1,185 490 30 7 15 3 445 91 
			 November 2000 1,205 580 60 10 25 5 495 85 
			 December 2000 695 530 35 7 40 7 455 86 
			 January 2001 755 1,180 65 6 90 7 1,030 87 
			 February 2001 710 890 90 10 110 12 690 78 
			 March 2001 425 1,280 105 8 190 15 985 77 
			 April 2001 295 630 60 10 120 19 445 71 
			 May 2001 340 780 65 8 135 17 580 74 
			 June 2001 440 580 65 11 110 19 405 70 
			 July 2001 580 580 45 8 125 22 410 71 
			  
			 Total 8,535 8,380 740 9 1,285 15 6,360 76 
		
	
	(16) Cases decided under normal criteria. Excludes cases decided under pragmatic measures aimed at reducing the pre-1996 asylum application backlog.
	(17) Provisional data.
	Notes:
	All data except percentages are rounded to nearest five.
	Columns may not sum to totals due to rounding.
	Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding.

Nick Tucker

Lorna Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects the investigation by the Criminal Cases Review Commission into the case of Mr. Nick Tucker to report.

Keith Bradley: The Criminal Cases Review Commission commenced its review of Nicholas Tucker's conviction on 31 May 2001. It has made progress with the case but is unable to say when it will complete its consideration.

Badger Baiting

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make badger baiting a recordable crime.

John Denham: Convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings under sections 1(1) and (3), 2 and 3 of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 are recordable by police forces on the Police National Computer. These include offences of wilfully killing, injuring or taking a badger, cruelly ill-treating a badger, and intentionally or recklessly interfering with a badger sett, including damaging or destroying a sett or causing a dog to enter a sett.

Paramilitary Training

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will put in place measures to ensure that children and young people are prevented from participating in paramilitary style training organised by political parties.

John Denham: holding answer 8 November 2001
	I am aware of the allegations of paramilitary type training for young people being provided and the particular concerns of the honourable member in relation to 'Camp Excalibur' in North Wales. I understand that North Wales Police have conducted a full investigation into such activities. They have assured me that no criminal offences have been committed. It is of course an offence under Section 54 (1) and (2) of the Terrorism Act 2000 to provide instruction or training or to receive instruction or training in the making or use of firearms, explosives, or chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. In addition, under subsection (3) (b) a person commits an offence if he invites another to receive instruction or training and the receipt would constitute an offence under subsection (2) but for the fact that it is to take place outside the United Kingdom. Any concrete and verifiable evidence of such activities will be dealt with immediately.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the impact on the criminal injuries compensation scheme of the decision in R v. CICAP ex parte August and ex parte Brown; and if he will make a statement.

John Denham: The handling of individual cases, or groups of case, is entirely a matter for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and the independent appellate body, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel. Ministers do not get involved in or comment on those bodies' handling of individual applications or their interpretation of the scheme rules.
	However, I understand that in the light of the outcome of this judicial review, the claims officers of the Compensation Authority and the Adjudicators of the Appeals Panel will continue to determine whether an applicant was a non-consenting victim of a sexual offence by considering each case on its facts and circumstances.

Corporate Manslaughter

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on progress in bringing forward proposals for a new offence of (a) corporate manslaughter and (b) corporate killing.

John Denham: In May 2000 we published a consultation paper "Reforming the Law on Involuntary Manslaughter". This included proposals for a new offence of corporate manslaughter or corporate killing.
	The consultation period closed in September 2000 and an interdepartmental working group has been set up to consider the issues raised. We intend to bring forward legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.

National Black Police Association

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will update the information given in his answer to the hon. Member for Worthing, West of 19 July 2001, Official Report, column 345W, concerning the National Black Police Association.

John Denham: As you will be aware, an article appeared in the Evening Standard on 8 August which suggested that the written answers which I gave on 19 July 2001, Official Report, column 345W, about the case of Superintendent Dizaei was not correct. As a result, I asked Home Office officials to examine further with the Metropolitan police the information which was provided. As a result, I am satisfied that the information given in the answers, which was based on information provided by the Metropolitan police, gave a misleading impression, for which I apologise. I am satisfied that there was no intention to mislead and that the errors arose because of misunderstanding between officials and the Metropolitan police about the information which the police had provided in order to answer the questions.
	I am advised by the Metropolitan police that the full and accurate picture is as indicated in my letter to the hon. Member of 9 November, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. This clarifies the position regarding the telephone calls that Superintendent Dizaei made in connection with his National Black Police Association business.

LORD CHANCELLOR

Jurors

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department 
	(1)  what measures there are to protect the identity of jurors in court;
	(2)  what rules restrict the names of jurors being read out in court.

Keith Bradley: holding answers 6 November 2001
	In cases where a judge is satisfied that there is a danger that there will be an attempt to intimidate or interfere with a jury, he may order that the names of jurors should be withheld and that they should only be balloted by number.

Libra Project

Matthew Taylor: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, pursuant to his answer of 31 October 2001, Official Report, column 752W, on the Libra project, how many of the magistrates courts committees with Office Automation will keep their existing dedicated terminals to access the legacy systems until the new Libra software is available; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: In all of the Magistrates Court Committees in receipt of the Libra Office Automation service, access to the main legacy system is achieved, for almost all staff, via the Libra terminal on their desks. Access to some other legacy systems used in discrete areas is achieved by a communication link to the legacy network, again using the Libra terminal. Only a minority of staff require this facility. In some cases separate stand-alone terminals have been retained to provide this access, in addition to access for specific local systems where that access was not available on the legacy network, and is not currently available on the Libra service. This mixture of access is replicated in all MCCs.

Money Claims

Harry Cohen: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if the Lord Chancellor will introduce legislation to change the law so that if a claim is made against a first defendant and a second defendant for the same sum of money the case against the latter is not decided upon until the case against the former is resolved; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: The Lord Chancellor has no current plans to change the law on joint or joint and several liability. However, under the general case management powers of the court, the trial judge may consolidate proceedings or direct a separate trial of any issue for the purpose of managing the case and furthering the overriding objective of the Civil Procedure Rules of enabling the courts to deal with cases justly.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Jobcentres (Assaults)

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department plans to take to deal with violent assaults on Jobcentre staff.

Nick Brown: Violent assaults on Jobcentre staff in our 1,000 plus Jobcentres are extremely rare. In the year to 30 June 2001 out of 137 incidents involving assaults on staff only three were reported as requiring treatment for more than cuts and bruises.
	In order to reduce the risk of assaults of any kind to an absolute minimum every Jobcentre is subject to a risk assessment, as a result of which a range of security measures are in force in each office. These can include, security guards, CCTV and panic alarms.
	We will take determined action against customers who in any way threaten, attack or abuse our staff.

Learning Disabilities

Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what support his Department is giving to help those with learning disabilities to get back into work.

Maria Eagle: People with learning disabilities have access to the full range of specialist disability employment programmes and support from specialist advisers.

Child Support Agency

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on progress with preparation for the changes to the Child Support Agency which will come into effect in April 2002.

Malcolm Wicks: Preparations for the introduction of the new child support scheme are progressing in accordance with the planned timetable.

Child Support Agency

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the qualifications of the Auditor General to the 2000–01 accounts of the Child Support Agency; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Mark Todd, dated 9 November 2001.
	I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions asking what assessment has been made of the qualifications of the Auditor General to the 2000/2001 accounts of the Child Support Agency.
	I very much regret that the Agency's accounts have again been qualified by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
	Some of the concern expressed by the Comptroller and Auditor General will be remedied as we implement the new Child Support arrangements from 2002.
	Others we can address now and I am doing so through a standard approach to corporate governance, to risk management and to the improvement in the accuracy of work undertaken.
	I hope this is helpful.

Child Support Agency

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much is owed to the Child Support Agency in outstanding child maintenance payments; how much of this is deemed uncollectable; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Laurence Robertson, dated 9 November 2001
	I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions about the Child Support Agency.
	You asked what amount is owed to the Child Support Agency in outstanding child maintenance payments; what amount of this is deemed uncollectable; and if he will make a statement.
	The amount of debt that was reported in the Child Support Agency's Annual Accounts for the year ending March 2001 is £527.80 million, of which £286.58 million is deemed collectable, £208.72 million is deemed possibly uncollectable and £32.50 million is deferred debt.
	In the year 2000/2001 our target was to reduce the amount of outstanding debt by 25%. We realised that target and have set ourselves the same challenge for 2001/2002.

Child Support Agency

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the annual budget of the Child Support Agency has been in each year since 1993;
	(2)  how many cases the Child Support Agency has handled in the last 12 months; and what the average cost per case over that period was.

Malcolm Wicks: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to my hon. Friend.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Dr. Howard Stoate, dated 9 November 2001
	I am replying to your Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions about the Child Support Agency.
	You asked what the annual budget of the Child Support Agency has been in each year since 1993. Also how many cases the Child Support Agency handled in the last 12 months; and what the average cost per case over that period was?
	The table at Annex 1 shows the Annual Budget of the Agency for each year since 1993.
	During the last 12 months the Agency handled 1,555,550 cases.
	The average cost per case is £132.17 and is based on the Agency's running costs (excluding the costs associated with the Child Support Reforms) between October 2000 and September 2001 of £205.590 million.
	I hope this is helpful.
	
		Annex 1: Annual Budget since 1993
		
			  £ million  
			 Year Budget 
		
		
			 1993–94 114 
			 1994–95 184 
			 1995–96 194 
			 1996–97 206 
			 1997–98 207 
			 1998–99 204 
			 1999–2000 207 
			 2000–01 203

Workers (Rehabilitation)

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with private sector insurers about the rehabilitation of workers.

Malcolm Wicks: We are introducing a Job Retention and Rehabilitation Pilot from next year which will help people at risk of losing their job due to illness or disability to stay in work. We consulted widely on the development of this pilot which attracted interest from a range of groups including insurers.

New Deal

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the impact the new deal has had on youth unemployment.

Malcolm Wicks: Since 1997, youth unemployment has fallen by over 40 per cent., and long-term youth unemployment has been cut by almost three-quarters.
	The new deal for young people has played a major part in this success. Up to August 2001, the programme had helped over 326,000 people into work, and independent research has estimated that, without the new deal, long-term youth unemployment would have been about twice as high.

New Deal

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new deal for disabled people.

Maria Eagle: Early evaluation found that the new deal for disabled people had a positive impact on helping disabled people move towards work.
	The pilot phase of the new deal for disabled people helped over 8,200 people move into work and since July we have begun to introduce a network of job brokers nationally.
	The new deal for disabled people is just part of the range of help we are providing to help people on Incapacity Benefit move towards work. These include removing benefit barriers to allow people to take part in worktrials and work placements and ensuring that taking up work is worthwhile by introducing the disabled person's tax credit.

New Deal

John Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the new deal for 50 plus; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Darling: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Gravesham (Mr. Pond) earlier today, at column 556.

New Deal

Si�n Simon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department has made of the effect the new deal has had on long-term unemployment in Birmingham, Erdington.

Nick Brown: In Birmingham, Erdington since 1997, claimant unemployment has fallen by a third and the number of people unemployed for one year plus has been more than halved.
	People who have been unemployed for 12 months or more can now benefit from the employment zone operating in Birmingham that has already helped over 2,300 people into work.

New Deal

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many persons have left the new deal for young people since its inception; how many of them have left to enter (a) jobs lasting less than 13 weeks, (b) sustained jobs and (c) jobs lasting more than 26 weeks; and what is the cost per person into a sustained job.

Nick Brown: The results of the new deal for young people are contained in the monthly statistical first releases which are available in the Library.
	By the end of July 2001, 594,300 people had left the new deal for young people. Of these, 239,500 were to sustained unsubsidised jobs and 190,770 entered unsubsidised jobs and did not return to claim jobseeker's allowance within 26 weeks.
	If someone on the new deal for young people moves into a job which lasts less than 13 weeks, they return to the new deal and are not classed as leavers.
	The average cost per person into a job on the new deal for young people is around 4,000. This estimate cannot be broken down by the type of job obtained.

New Deal

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many participants in the new deal for lone parents have obtained places on (a) Employment Service programmes, (b) work based learning for adult programmes and (c) other training programmes since the inception of the new deal; and if he will give a breakdown of the qualifications obtained in each case.

Nick Brown: The latest information on the number of participants in the new deal for lone parents programme who have taken up education or training is contained in the statistical first release (SFR) which is available in the Library.
	Information is not recorded on the type of training undertaken or qualifications gained.

New Deal

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many places were (a) available and (b) taken up on (i) the employment option and (ii) the full-time education and training option on the new deal for the long-term unemployed in each year since its inception; and what the cost per place in each case was.

Nick Brown: The new deal for 25-plus provides individually tailored help for long-term unemployed adults. Support through subsidised employment and education and training opportunities (ETO) is provided on the basis of individual need. As a result, the number of places available for subsidised employment or ETO relate directly to the number of participants for whom such provision is the most effective route into sustained, unsubsidised employment.
	The table shows the number of subsidised employment and ETO places that have been taken up since July 1998.
	
		
			 Year Subsidised employment ETO 
		
		
			 From July 1998 1,811 1,381 
			 1999 6,597 3,995 
			 2000 5,692 2,383 
			 January to July 2001 2,051 (18)199 
			  
			 Total 16,151 7,958 
		
	
	(18) Numbers taking up subsidised employment and ETO placements are for pre-April 2001 starts and hence do not include starts to the enhanced new deal 25-plus intensive activity period. The figures are taken from the Statistical First Release (SFR). The number of starts to ETO may be undercounted and future SFRs will show revised figures as necessary
	Estimated average unit costs for subsidised employment and ETO are available for 19992000 and 200001. These are set out in the table.
	
		 
		
			 Year Subsidised employment ETO 
		
		
			 19992000 1,402 802 
			 200001 1,557 869

New Deal

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions further to his answer of 15 October 2001, Official Report, column 904, on unemployment advice, what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into deadweight cost and the new deal.

Nick Brown: We have commissioned a comprehensive range of new deal evaluation, including that by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) which looked at the overall impact of the programme on the wider economy. This was a valuable piece of research showing that without new deal long-term youth unemployment would be about twice as high.

New Deal

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the long-term unemployed have been subjected to sanctions in respect of the new deal for the long-term unemployed since its inception.

Nick Brown: Up to September 2001, 50,913 sanctions had been imposed on people participating in new deal programmes. Figures are not available for individual programmes.
	Source:
	Employment Service Labour Market Statistics

New Deal

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the total cost to date has been of (a) publications on and (b) advertising of new deal programmes for the unemployed.

Nick Brown: Figures available are as follows:
	Publications 1 2,574,690
	Advertising17,522,478.
	It does not include an element for new deal for lone parents (NDLP). Throughout the period from 1997 to date, publications for NDLP were included in the overall cost of marketing for all advertising campaigns run by the Department of Social Security in each of the relevant financial years. It is not possible therefore to separate out this cost.
	1 This figure covers only publications for new deal for young people, 25 plus, partners of unemployed, 50 plus, disabled people and action teams

New Deal

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many participants in the new deal to date have been placed on a computer skills course as part of the Ambition: IT partnership.

Nick Brown: The Ambition: IT initiative is currently being developed. Training will be available from January 2002.

Universal Bank

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people he estimates will receive benefits through the universal bank.

Alistair Darling: Universal Banking Services are scheduled to be available when we begin to migrate our customers to payment by automated credit transfer in 2003.

Manufacturing Sector

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the monthly changes in the number of people employed in the manufacturing sector since 1998.

Nick Brown: Since 1998 the number of people employed in the manufacturing sector has fallen from 4.5 million to 4.1 million. Over the same period, total UK employment has increased by around 500,000.
	Manufacturing is an important sector of the economy, with output at near record levels. But as in other industrialised countries, there are fewer people employed in producing these manufactured goods than 20 years ago.
	In a dynamic economy jobs are being created and lost all of the time. Where changes in the economy lead to job losses, and to upheavals in individuals' lives, help and support is available so they can find a new job as quickly as possiblewherever they live and whatever part of the economy they work in.

Pensioners Credit Scheme

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment the Government have made of the contribution the pensioners credit scheme will make to the income of pensioners in the United Kingdom.

Ian McCartney: The Pension Credit forms a key part of the Government's overall strategy for tackling pension poverty.
	When introduced in 2003 it will mean that no single pensioner need live on less than 100 a week and no pensioner couple need live on less than 154 a week.

Over-50s

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what strategy his Department is developing to help people aged over 50 into work.

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to help unemployed people over 50 years of age back into work.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to help unemployed people over 50 years of age back into work.

Malcolm Wicks: We are committed to the principle of extending opportunity for all to everyone regardless of age, and tackling age discrimination in the workplace. A key element of this is the New Deal 50 plus which has already helped over 50,000 people move into work since its national launch in April 2000.
	We are developing proposals to increase take up of the New Deal 50 plus training provision, and employer involvement in the programme, in the form of 3rd Age Apprenticeships. These will offer work-based training organised on a sectoral basis, making use of existing New Deal 50 plus funding arrangements, particularly the Training Grant.
	The on-going Age Positive campaign is challenging workplace attitudes towards age, ensuring employers realise the benefits of employing an age diverse workforce. An extensive direct mailing initiative early in 2001 successfully targeted recruitment agencies, in addition to the Federation of Small Businesses.

Social Deprivation

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to help people back into work in areas of social deprivation in St. Helens, North.

Malcolm Wicks: Our welfare to work initiatives are helping people into work in all parts of the country. We have introduced Action Teams for Jobs which are providing tailored help to jobless people in the most employment deprived areas. Action Teams have already helped over 15,000 jobless people move into work.
	The Merseyside Action Team, launched in October 2000, covered two areas of Merseyside: Wirral and St. Helens. We increased the number of Action Teams from 40 to 53 on 15 October 2001 and St. Helens now has its own Action Team which will focus even more closely on helping disadvantaged jobless people in the area move into work.

Jobs (Peterborough)

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the impact of measures to create jobs in Peterborough since 11 September.

Malcolm Wicks: The current labour market position in Peterborough is strong. The claimant unemployment rate in September 2001 was 2.3 per cent., below the national average of 3.1 per cent. Total unemployment in the constituency has fallen by 40 per cent. in the last four years. Over the same period the number unemployed for one year or more has fallen by two thirds, while the number of 1824 year olds unemployed for six months or more is down by almost 75 per cent.
	Our aim remains employment opportunity for all throughout the country. We have put in place a framework that delivers:
	a platform of economic stability and low inflation, to promote sustained growth in output and jobs;
	investment in education and training so people have the skills they need to take up work;
	a labour market policy with a strong work focus so all jobless people have access to vacancies, advice and help with jobsearch;
	a range of New Deal programmes which help disadvantaged groups move from welfare into work;
	policies such as the National Minimum Wage and Working Families Tax Credit designed to make work pay; and
	locally focused initiatives designed to tackle the problems of particular areas, such as Action Teams for Jobs.
	These policies, alongside continued economic growth, have combined to ensure steady improvement in the labour market.

Jobfinder Plus

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the role of compulsion in jobfinder plus.

Nick Brown: In parallel with the introduction of Jobcentre Plus we a requiring new and repeat claimants to working age benefits to attend an interview with a Personal Adviser to ensure that they are aware of the support that is available to help them into work. Other than for claimants of Jobseekers Allowance, to whom the current rules continue to apply, there is no requirement on them to take any other steps to look for work.

Employment Programmes

George Mudie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions he has had recently with employers to discuss the Government's employment programmes.

Nick Brown: Since June of this year we have met with key employer organisations and many individual employers. Their input is central to the development of our employment policies and to ensuring that our employment programmes meet local labour market needs and employers' recruitment needs.
	We have also created the National Employment Panel to ensure that employers, and other key customers, have a strong and permanent voice within the Department. The panel is an employer-led body that will provide independent advice on the design, delivery and performance of our welfare to work initiatives.
	Employers have a central role to play in achieving our goal of creating and sustaining employment opportunities for all.

Training Providers

David Clelland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what was the average length of time taken by his Department to release funds to training providers following audit in the latest six-month period for which figures are available.

Malcolm Wicks: Audits are carried out by the Department, as part of its normal commercial relationships with external providers. Departmental auditors are not empowered to withhold funds which are payable to providers. They will advise on any irregularities that may have been identified during the course of the audit. Contracting teams will decide on any appropriate action in these circumstances.
	In the last six months, there are no instances of the Department withholding payment to training providers as a result of audit activities.

Maternity Benefit

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the operation of sure start maternity benefit.

Malcolm Wicks: The Sure Start Maternity Grant complements the Sure Start programme, which is helping many thousands of children from the most deprived areas to get the best start in life.
	The Grant is available to people receiving Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Working Families' Tax Credit, or Disabled Person's Tax Credit. It is worth up to three times as much as the Maternity Payment it replaced and provides more help to those families in most need.

Employment Zones

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of employment zones in reducing unemployment.

Nick Brown: Employment Zones are one of a range of initiatives we have introduced to help people move into work. The 15 Employment Zones are performing well and have already helped over 14,500 people into work. We are currently evaluating the Zones before deciding how to take the initiative further.

Tax Credits (Pensioners)

Roger Casale: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what further plans he has to introduce tax credits for pensioners.

Ian McCartney: As announced in the Gracious Address, the Government will introduce a Bill to provide for Pension Credit in this session.
	The Pension Credit forms a key part of the Government's overall strategy for tackling pensioner poverty.
	When introduced in 2003 it will mean that no single pensioner need live on less than 100 a week and no pensioner couple need live on less than 154 a week.
	Around half of all pensioners will gain as a result of the introduction of the Credit.

Pensions

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on the status of the basic state pension within overall pension provision in the United Kingdom.

Ian McCartney: The basic state pension will remain the foundation of income in retirement. We have increased the rates above inflation this year and we will do so again next year.

Pensions

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his answer of 24 October 2001, Official Report, column 242W, on pensions, if he will provide quarterly figures on the sales of personal pensions for the last five years.

Ian McCartney: The information is in the table:
	
		Thousand 
		
			  Time period Number of personal pension and Group Personal Pension contracts sold 
		
		
			 1996  
			 Qtr 1 254 
			 Qtr 2 300 
			 Qtr 3 247 
			 Qtr 4 253 
			   
			 1997  
			 Qtr 1 300 
			 Qtr 2 398 
			 Qtr 3 329 
			 Qtr 4 279 
			   
			 1998  
			 Qtr 1 360 
			 Qtr 2 384 
			 Qtr 3 318 
			 Qtr 4 332 
			   
			 1999  
			 Qtr 1 307 
			 Qtr 2 327 
			 Qtr 3 279 
			 Qtr 4 271 
			   
			 2000  
			 Qtr 1 251 
			 Qtr 2 268 
			 Qtr 3 234 
			 Qtr 4 242 
			   
			 2001  
			 Qtr 1 300 
			 Qtr 2 314 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures sourced from the Association of British Insurers.
	2. The figures include both single premium and regular premium pensions. They do not include additional voluntary contributions.

Winter Fuel Payments

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the feasibility of using the administrative mechanisms that he uses to ensure that women receive their retirement pension as soon as they reach 60 years to allow him to pay winter fuel payments to women who reach 60 years after the qualifying date but before the end of the winter.

Ian McCartney: Using a qualifying week allows us to gather and verify household information in order for payments to be made in time for the coldest weather. To do otherwise could compromise our ability to make timely payments to more elderly recipients.

Winter Fuel Payments

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have responded to the recent winter fuel payment advertising campaign; and what steps have been taken to evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign.

Ian McCartney: Press advertising ran over a two week period at the beginning of August 2001 to support a targeted mailing to those newly eligible for a Winter Fuel Payment from winter 2001.
	We measured press advertising specific response (period 223 August 2001) as follows:
	A total of 27,016 calls to the Winter Fuel Payment Helpline. Of these 9,389 calls quoted specific press adverts.
	Press coupons continue to be returned. Up to 5 October 2001:
	19,232 press coupons had been returned requesting a claim form.
	154,241 completed claim forms had been returned in total.
	The campaign for winter 2001 will continue until the end of March 2002. Evaluation takes place on an on-going basis through call centre statistics. It will be assessed later in the campaign if customer interview research needs to be commissioned.

Inter-agency Liaison

Eric Joyce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to improve liaison between the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service.

Nick Brown: The first 49 Jobcentre Plus offices opened on 22 October providing, for the first time, a fully integrated employment and benefit service. First reactions from both individual customers and employers have been overwhelmingly positive. We plan progressively to extend this integration nation-wide beginning later next year.

Pensions Complaints

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) cases were referred to OPAS, (b) complaints about OPAS were referred to the Pensions Ombudsman, (c) other complaints were referred to the Pensions Ombudsman and (d) complaints were upheld by the Pensions Ombudsman in respect of (i) OPAS and (ii) others and (e) complaints were rejected by the Pensions Ombudsman in each of the last three years.

Ian McCartney: The available information is contained in the following table:
	
		
			   Year ended 31 March 1999 Year ended 31 March 2000 Year ended 31 March 2001 
		
		
			 Inquiries and complaints received by OPAS 30,984 32,174 36,322  
			  (7,176 written) (7,304 written) (8,415 written) 
			 Inquiries and complaints received by the Pensions Ombudsman 3,067 3,269 3,215 
			 Inquiries and complaints rejected by the Pensions Ombudsman as not suitable for investigation(19) 2,395 2,594 2,409 
			 Complaints upheld by the Pensions Ombudsman to some extent(20) (percentage) 59 49 39 
		
	
	(19) Most rejections are because the case is not within jurisdiction (eg referred to a different ombudsman) or because the matter has not been fully explored with the body complained against, or because OPAS has not been given an opportunity to resolve the matter. The complainant receives a decision in almost all cases which are within jurisdiction and where the matter has been explored/OPAS consulted.
	(20) As a percentage of those investigated.
	Complaints about OPAS are not within the Pensions Ombudsman's jurisdiction and no specific records are kept of complaints made about OPAS and rejected, but if people are unhappy with the result of inquiries made by OPAS they can refer the matter to the Pensions Ombudsman.

Jobcentre Plus

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what training has been undertaken by staff commencing work in the new Jobcentre Plus offices.

Nick Brown: I refer the hon. Member to answer given to the hon. Member for Hertsmere (Mr. Clappison) on 8 November 2001, Official Report, column 374W.

Jobcentre Plus

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which Jobcentre Plus offices provide the facility for benefit claims to be made over the telephone; what length of time he estimates such telephone calls to take; and who is responsible for paying for the calls.

Nick Brown: Customers making new and repeat claims in all of the 15 Jobcentre Plus areas that have been operating since 22 October are encouraged to make initial contact with Jobcentre Plus by telephone. During this call the member of staff will collect initial details about the customer, and subsequently send them the appropriate claim forms. We estimate that the phone call should take no longer than 20 minutes. Customers are told the expected call length at the beginning of the call and can request they are called back by the member of staff.

Jobcentre Plus

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of the new Jobcentre Plus offices (a) have been risk assessed and (b) are awaiting risk assessment to determine the necessary level of security to be employed following the removal of glass screens.

Nick Brown: All of the Jobcentre Plus offices which are operating the new Jobcentre Plus process have been risk assessed.

Jobcentre Plus

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at what level of risk assessment it will be deemed necessary to provide a Jobcentre Plus office with security staff; and how many security staff he expects will be employed in Jobcentre Plus offices in the next 12 months.

Nick Brown: Decisions on whether individual offices require security staff have been made on the basis of the recommendations of the risk assessments carried out in each office. Currently, 78 security staff are in place in 28 offices. Further risk assessments are shortly to be carried out in all Jobcentre Plus offices, in the light of experience of their actual operation. Further deployment of security staff will be decided in the light of the recommendations of these assessments.

Jobcentre Plus

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consultation with Benefits Agency staff was undertaken before the decision to remove glass security screens from new Jobcentre Plus offices; and what were the results of such consultation.

Nick Brown: Jobcentre Plus management have been involved in lengthy discussions nationally with the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union regarding the layout and furnishings of the new Jobcentre Plus offices including in respect of the Risk Assessment process. Local PCS representatives have also been consulted about the safety arrangements in each of the new Jobcentre Plus offices, including in respect of local Risk Assessments. There have also been frequent and regular communications direct with staff in both the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service.

Jobcentre Plus

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions who is responsible for carrying out risk assessments in the new Jobcentre Plus offices; and if this process is subject to reassessment following (a) appeal from office staff and (b) review at designated time intervals.

Nick Brown: Risk assessments in Jobcentre Plus offices were carried out by specialist staff employed by the Employment Service and the company Land Securities Trillium which is responsible for the Benefits Agency estate.
	Further risk assessments are shortly to be carried out in all Jobcentre Plus offices in the light of experience of their actual operation.

Jobcentre Plus

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's estimate is of the costs involved in equipping all new Jobcentre Plus offices with (a) CCTV, (b) panic alarms and (c) security staff.

Nick Brown: The estimated additional costs in respect of these measures in the new Jobcentre Plus pathfinder offices are currently in the order of 1 million2 million, which represents a mix of one-off and continuing costs.

Jobcentre Plus

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Jobcentre Plus offices have opened (a) with and (b) without protective screens; and what contingency plans the Government have to ensure that claimants who live in areas affected by industrial action continue to receive their benefit entitlement.

Nick Brown: All 15 Jobcentre Plus pathfinder areas have screened facilities for the handling of customers or situations likely to give rise to particular risks.
	Detailed contingency plans are in place to ensure that, to the maximum extent possible, customers continue to receive the benefits to which they are entitled, notwithstanding the current dispute.

Jobcentre Plus

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what personal safety advice has been given to Jobcentre Plus staff following the removal of glass security screens in new offices.

Nick Brown: A key element in the introduction of the new Jobcentre Plus offices has been intensive training for staff in both interviewing and dealing with difficult situations and customers.
	Each office has its own plan in place for handling incidents so that all staff know what action to take should an incident occur.

Jobcentre Plus

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions according to what criteria new Jobcentre Plus offices will be risk assessed; and what protection will be offered to staff in offices determined to be high risk.

Nick Brown: Risk assessments for each of the new Jobcentre Plus offices have been carried out within the framework of a generic risk assessment which was developed earlier in the year in consultation with staff representatives. This generic risk Assessment recommended a wide range of potential risk control measures which risk assessors used as a basis for completing risk assessments at each Pathfinder office. The list of control measures set out in the generic risk assessment is not prescriptive and assessors were free to make whatever recommendations were appropriate to each office.
	Drawing on those assessments, and following consultation with local trade union health and safety representatives, a series of extra security measures have been introduced. These include wide coverage by closed circuit television; training for staff in how to handle difficult situations; better management in each office to avoid difficult situations building up; panic alarms; and more visible and effective security guards. Additionally, in each pathfinder area there are screened facilities to deal with individuals and parts of the business which pose a greater risk.

Benefits Agency

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many security staff are employed in Benefits Agency offices; and what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of such staff in (a) deterring criminal acts and (b) helping to protect office staff when a criminal act is committed;
	(2)  how many old Benefits Agency offices are fitted with CCTV cameras; and what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of such cameras in (a) deterring criminal acts and (b) helping to provide evidence following a criminal act.

Nick Brown: There are currently 387 CCTV systems installed and Land Securities Trillium has 1,179 permanent security staff members deployed in Benefits Agency offices. The number of security staff is supplemented by temporary staff where local needs demand.
	The installation of CCTV cameras and the deployment of security staff are based on the recommendations of independent risk assessors in order to reduce risks for staff in those offices. The security teams regularly defuse situations at an early stage and where necessary take action to notify the police. No statistics are available on the number of occasions when security staff intervene or CCTV is used as evidence in a prosecution.

Benefits Agency

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's policy is for dealing with claimants who act in a threatening or violent manner towards Benefits Agency staff.

Nick Brown: Ministers and senior management have made clear that we will take determined action against customers who in any way threaten, attack or abuse our staff.

Child Poverty

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proposals he has to end child poverty; and how many children living in poverty there were in (a) June 1997 and (b) June 2001.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 9 November 2001
	Child poverty and social exclusion are complex multi-dimensional concepts, affecting many aspects of children's livesincluding their living standards, health, housing, the quality of the environment, and opportunities to learn. The third Opportunity for all report (Cm 5260) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling child poverty and social exclusion and presents the latest information on the indicators used to monitor progress against this strategy.

Asylum Seekers

Peter Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he plans to extend the use of the application registration cards for asylum seekers to all benefit claimants.

Malcolm Wicks: The new application registration card will replace the Home Office standard acknowledgement letter issued to all asylum seekers. The card will only be issued to acknowledge an application for asylum and for no other purpose.
	As the application registration card is designed solely for use by asylum seekers, who are not eligible to receive social security benefits, it would be inappropriate to extend its use to non-asylum seekers who claim benefits.

Attendance Allowance (Care Homes)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the entitlement of self-funded residents of nursing and care homes to receive attendance allowance; and if he will estimate how many self-funded residents of nursing and care homes are receiving attendance allowance in each nation of the United Kingdom.

Maria Eagle: People who meet the whole cost of their place in a residential care home or nursing home entirely from their own resources and without help from public funds are termed self-funders and may be entitled to continued payment of attendance allowance which is based on care needs. Those self-funders who are entitled to attendance allowance can continue to be paid the benefit subject to their receiving no help from public funds.
	We estimate the number of self-funders over the age of 65 in the UK to be:
	
		
			  Number of self-funders 
		
		
			 England 57,000 
			 Scotland 7,000 
			 Wales 6,000 
			 Northern Ireland 2,000 
			  
			 Total 72,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Estimates are rounded to the nearest thousand.
	2. Data for England, Wales and Northern Ireland to estimate the number of self-funders in receipt of attendance allowance in nursing and care homes were not available. We did have reliable information from the Scottish Executive for Scotland. This was used to then estimate the numbers in the remaining nations.
	3. It is assumed that all those self-funders in residential and nursing homes are entitled to attendance allowance or the care component of disability living allowance.
	4. It is assumed that the percentage of over 65s in care who are self-funders is the same in England, Wales and Northern Ireland as in Scotland.
	5. May 2001 and February 2001 5 per cent. scan of AA and DLA computer systems and Scottish Community Care Statistics 2000 .

Combined Pension Statement

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he intends to introduce the combined pension statement.

Ian McCartney: The Department for Work and Pensions will offer a new service to enable people of working age to more effectively plan their retirement incomes through the provision of combined pension forecast statements.
	This voluntary service, which is a joint initiative between the Department's pension providers and employers, is being implemented in the three main phases.
	Phase 1 saw the development of the service through a series of pilot exercises conducted with the pensions industry. The pilots, which began in January 2000, are now coming to a conclusion.
	Phase 2, which commenced on 18 October 2001, sees the formal recruitment and registration of pension providers to the service.
	Phase 3 represents the physical production of the new statement by the industry. This phase will take the form of a rolling programme building to a service which will aim to provide 15 million combined statements by 200506.

Devolved Administrations

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is with regard to (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department giving evidence to (i) Scottish Parliament, (ii) Welsh Assembly and (iii) Northern Ireland Assembly committees; and to what categories of document he gives (A) full access, (B) restricted access and (C) no access to (w) Scottish Parliament, (x) Welsh Assembly, (y) Northern Ireland Assembly and (z) House of Commons Select Committees.

Nick Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Mrs. Roche) on 15 October 2001, Official Report, column 1003W.

Departmental Spending (Staff)

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate total staff costs for his Department and its agencies by nation and region of the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Brown: The information requested is in the tables.
	The Department for Work and Pensions administers social security and employment services across Great Britain on an integrated basis. Not all staff costs incurred by the Department and its agencies within a nation or region relate to customers within the same nation or region.
	
		Department for Work and Pensions: total and percentage staff costs by grade level and region/nation -- Table 1total staff costs
		
			 Government office region All grades SCS level Level 6/7 SEO/HEO level EO level AO/AA level Ind/other grade 
		
		
			 London 331,901,833 7,739,330 18,922,633 41,029,012 120,116,892 143,646,332 447,634 
			 South East 196,724,201 (21) 1,819,616 14,061,550 79,226,664 99,956,176 1,660,195 
			 South West 144,022,302 (21) 1,485,204 12,006,716 53,378,878 76,262,133 735,984 
			 West Midlands 196,304,739 363,181 2,239,319 15,891,457 73,805,047 103,993,203 (21) 
			 North West 332,157,197 1,226,834 11,705,330 39,142,345 111,808,485 163,571,051 4,703,152 
			 North East 245,071,976 1,378,687 6,319,869 28,017,167 73,061,108 135,318,111 977,034 
			 Merseyside 100,380,994 (21) 1,306,222 6,952,041 36,263,502 55,821,874 (21) 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 255,268,964 3,017,964 13,627,902 48,812,860 94,385,696 95,372,417 52,125 
			 East Midlands 105,249,208 (21) 1,299,506 7,657,134 41,157,270 54,982,172 70,123 
			 Eastern 96,206,315 (21) 789,106 5,496,386 34,666,590 55,179,192 (21) 
			 England Total 2,003,287,729 14,037,429 59,514,707 219,066,668 717,870,132 984,102,661 8,696,138 
			 Wales 116,956,484 (21) 1,253,113 8,879,369 44,870,553 60,569,941 1,242,775 
			 Scotland 247,708,964 (21) 3,163,423 19,229,663 93,275,734 129,009,599 2,693,558 
			 GB Total 2,367,953,177 14,515,151 63,931,243 247,175,700 856,016,419 1,173,682,201 12,632,471 
			 Northern Ireland 156,169 (22) (22) (22) (22) (22) 156,169 
			 Grand Total 2,368,109,346 14,515,151 63,931,243 247,175,700 856,016,419 1,173,682,201 12,788,640 
		
	
	
		Table 2Percentage of staff costs 
		
			 Government Office region All grades SCS level Level 6/7 SEO/HEO level EO level AO/AA level Ind/other grade 
		
		
			 London 14 53 30 17 14 12 4 
			 South East 8 (21) 3 6 9 9 13 
			 South West 6 (21) 2 5 6 6 6 
			 West Midlands 8 3 4 6 9 9 (21) 
			 North West 14 8 18 16 13 14 37 
			 North East 10 9 10 11 9 12 8 
			 Merseyside 4 (21) 2 3 4 5 (21) 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 11 21 21 20 11 8 0 
			 East Midlands 4 (21) 2 3 5 5 1 
			 Eastern 4 (21) 1 2 4 5 (21) 
			 England Total 85 97 93 89 84 84 68 
			 Wales 5 (21) 2 4 5 5 10 
			 Scotland 10 (21) 5 8 11 11 21 
			 GB total 100 100 100 100 100 100 99 
			 Northern Ireland 0 (22) (22) (22) (22) (22) 1 
			 Grand total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
		
	
	(21) Because there are three or fewer staff in this category the number and cost have not been separately identified.
	(22) Staff costs for Northern Ireland have not been identified by grade because the small numbers in each category could potentially identify individuals and their salaries.
	Notes:
	1. Staff costs include basic salary and allowances plus employer's contribution to National Insurance and Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme.
	2. Staff Costs do not include ancillary matters such as accommodation, office services, stationery etc.
	3. The staff data from which these figures derive are as at 31 August 2001 as this represents the correct staffing position of DWP, which was formed in June 2001. Earlier DSS data is not comparable.
	4. Employment Service staff are included.
	5. War Pensions Agency Staff are included as they are still largely within the overall DWP administrative structure even though WPA is now technically part of the Ministry of Defence.
	6. Casual and other staff on temporary contracts are included.
	7. The grade groupings include specialist staff such as accountants, lawyers and auditors in their generalist grade equivalent.
	8. Because the staffing make-up of DWP is different from the DSS, the figures above are not comparable with those provided for DSS in Civil Service Statistics 2000.
	9. Overtime costs are not included as it would not be possible to collate the historical data required in sufficient detail in the time available.

Job Losses

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many job losses have occurred in the UK as a result of the terrorist attacks of 11 September.

Nick Brown: Because normal labour market turnover is so large, it is difficult to assess how much is due to particular changes or events.

Jobcentres (Electronic Services)

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many jobcentres have had electronic jobpoints fitted; how many jobs are accessible through this service; and what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the service in placing people in employment;
	(2)  how much has been spent on the development and installation of jobpoint kiosks in jobcentres across the country.

Nick Brown: Since the first jobpoints were installed, a little over nine months ago, over 650 offices have been equipped with almost 6,200 machines. By February 2002, when all 1,000 jobcentres will have been fitted with a total of 9,000 jobpoints it will be the largest managed network in the world of this sort of terminal.
	The Employment Service typically handles around 400,000 vacancies at any one time and these can be searched on jobpoints by job type, location, hours or other factors. In addition, there are usually more than 10,000 vacancies from other public employment services in the European Economic Area and around 1,500 which are being displayed by a small number of private agencies and recruiters as part of an experiment.
	Jobpoints are part of an extensive programme of modernisation of the Employment Service, which also includes vacancies taken through a single national telephone number, an internet job bank and new job matching tools for staff. It is not possible to separate the cost of jobpoints from other elements of the modernisation programme because of the interdependencies within it. As we have said before in a press release dated 31 October 2000 the work is being carried out through an eight year contract with Electronic Data Systems. The first phase of this, which included the jobpoints, is at a total of 470 million. However, a substantial part of these costs will be offset through efficiency savings derived from the whole of the programme.
	Evidence from an early evaluation of the Jobpoint Pathfinder offices is available in the House of Commons Library. It shows that the use of jobpoints is encouraging jobseekers to look at a larger range of jobs across wider geographical areas. Jobseekers are finding the machines easy to use and that they improve the effectiveness of their job searching. Evidence is emerging that people are applying for more jobs, and this should increase their prospects of moving from benefits to work, and doing so more quickly.
	The effectiveness of jobpoints is currently being further assessed as part of a wider evaluation of the Modernising Employment Service (MES) Programme. Results from the first year of the evaluation will be published in 2002 with final results in 2003.

ONE Service

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the findings of his Department's research report number 149 The Medium-Term Effects of Voluntary Participation in ONE; and what steps he is taking to ensure that the findings of the report are acted upon.

Nick Brown: The evidence from this report suggests that ONE has succeeded in providing a more individually tailored and work-focused service to clients. The report is only based on findings from the voluntary stage of ONE and so it is too early to draw definitive conclusions about ONE until evidence is available from the period when participation in work focused interviews became compulsory. However, emerging findings from ONE evaluation reports are being used to inform the development of the new Jobcentre Plus service.

Job Opportunies (Scotland)

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what action the Government are taking to help create new job opportunities in East Central Scotland.

Nick Brown: Since 1997, unemployment in the areas of Edinburgh, Fife, Lothian and Dundee has fallen by around a third, and long-term unemployment by around 60 per cent. Our aim is employment opportunity for all throughout the country. We have put in place a framework that delivers:
	a platform of economic stability and low inflation, to promote sustained growth in output and jobs;
	investment in education and training so people have the skills they need to take up work;
	a labour market policy with a strong work focus so all jobless people have access to vacancies, advice and help with jobsearch;
	a range of New Deal programmes which help disadvantaged groups move from welfare into work;
	policies such as the National Minimum Wage and Working Families Tax Credit designed to make work pay; and
	locally focused initiatives designed to tackle the problems of particular areas, such as Action Teams for Jobs, one of which started operations in Dundee on 15 October.
	These policies, alongside continued economic growth, have combined to ensure steady improvement in the labour market.

National Insurance Numbers

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if his Department completed the planned checks on national insurance numbers in 2000; and how many of those checks resulted in anomalies that were passed to fraud investigators.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	During the 19992000 tax year, 626,641 payroll items were checked. Of these 288,924 errors were found and 6,223 cases were referred for potential fraud investigation.
	During the 200001 tax year, 1,035,796 payroll items were checked of which 770,308 were found to contain errors and 22,777 were referred for potential fraud investigation.

National Insurance Numbers

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate how many national insurance accounts exist where no contributions are being made; and what assessment he has made of the actual or potential fraudulent use of such accounts.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	There are approximately 14 million national insurance accounts in existence where contributors have made no contributions or received any credits for over 3 years or more.
	An assessment shows that there is no evidence to suggest that there is any higher incidence of actual or potential fraud on these accounts compared to any other.

Departmental Staff (Disability)

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of staff in his Department had a disability in each year since 1992; and what targets are in place to increase the recruitment of people with disabilities.

Ian McCartney: The proportion of staff with a disability employed by the Department for Work and Pensions is currently 5 per cent. The proportion of disabled staff employed by the former Department of Social Security and the Employment Service in each year since 1992 (where data are available) is set out in the table.
	
		Percentage 
		
			   1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 DSS 6.1  4.9 4.7 4.7 
			 ES6.5 5.8 
		
	
	The figures for previous years omit the relatively small number of staff who have additionally transferred across to DWP from DfEE.
	This Department has a range of policies and procedures in place to encourage the employment of people with disabilities covering their recruitment, retention and career development. In addition, this Department participates in the Positive About Disabled People Symbol scheme (known as the two ticks symbol) and operates a guaranteed interview scheme for job applicants with disabilities. Equality targets have been put in place to increase the representation of disabled staff at all levels within across the organisation, for achievement by March 2005. Details are set out in the table:
	
		
			  Percentage of disabled staff as at December 1999 Target percentage by 2005 
		
		
			 SCS 1.6 3.2 
			 Grades 6, 7 and SEO 2.2 3 
			 HEO and EO 5.1 6 
			 AO and AA 4.7 6 
		
	
	Key:
	SCS: Senior Civil Service.
	SEO: Senior Executive Officer.
	EO: Executive Officer.
	AA: Administrative Assistant.
	Grade 6,7: Senior management grades.
	HEO: Higher Executive Officer.
	AO: Administrative Officer.

Incapacity Benefit

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Wales, (b) England, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland who receive incapacity benefit and have an occupational or personal pension income which does not affect their incapacity benefit;
	(2)  how many people in (a) Wales, (b) England, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in receipt of incapacity benefit since 1 April have had their benefit entitlement reduced; how many of these have had their benefit reduced to nothing; and what percentage of them receiving incapacity benefit since 1 April have had it reduced.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 7 November 2001
	The available information is in the tables.
	
		People entitled to Incapacity Benefit (IB) whose benefit is affected by their occupational or personal pensions as at 31 May 2001
		
			   IB reduced to nothing IB Reduced Percentage reduced(23) 
		
		
			 Wales (24) (25)200 4.7 
			 England (25)200 (25)500 2.0 
			 Scotland (24) (25)100 1.8 
		
	
	(23) Figures refer to the percentage of new and repeat claims to Incapacity Benefit made since 6 April 2001 where Incapacity Benefit was reduced or reduced to nothing.
	(24) Numbers are taken from a small number of sample cases and are subject to a high degree of sampling error, they should therefore only be used as an indication of the current situation.
	(25) Nil or Negligible.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. Figures for Northern Ireland are not included. Social Security matters in Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
	Source:
	Figures are taken from a 5 per cent. sample of the benefit computer system and exclude a small number of cases held clerically.
	
		Estimated number of people with an occupational or personal pension, which does not affect the rate of Incapacity Benefit they receive as at 31 May 2001
		
			   Recipients 
		
		
			 Wales 38,000 
			 England 340,000 
			 Scotland 41,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures include recipients with an occupational pension in excess of 85.00 per week, whose Incapacity Benefit is not affected because their claim was made for a period which began before 6 April 2001.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand, although estimates of recipients with occupational and personal pensions cannot be regarded as accurate to this degree.
	3. Figures for Northern Ireland are not included. Social Security matters in Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
	Source:
	Estimates derived from a 5 per cent. sample of the benefit computer system, excluding a small number of cases held clerically, and the 19992000 Family Resources Survey.

Disability Income Guarantee

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to uprate the disability income guarantee in line with earnings; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: In line with section 150 of the Social Security Administration Act, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is currently reviewing the rates of benefit. He will make an announcement in due course.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Foot and Mouth

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the part played by the resistance by farmers to the slaughter of their stock in the spread of the foot and mouth outbreak.

Margaret Beckett: Resistance to the slaughter of stock on contiguous premises has led to delays in some disease control operations, seriously hampering efforts to bring the epidemic under control. The longer that animals which are believed to have been exposed to the virus remain alive, the greater the risk of them developing disease and spreading infection to neighbouring farms.

Foot and Mouth

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to review licensing arrangements for animal movements following the recent foot and mouth disease outbreaks.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 18 October 2001
	The licensing arrangements for animal movements are kept under constant review and have been regularly amended to reflect the improving disease situation. Once foot and mouth disease has been eradicated, we will need to look closely at the way in which animal movements contributed to the rapid spread of disease. This aspect of the outbreak is likely to be one of the issues that will be examined by Dr. Iain Anderson's independent inquiry.
	There have been restrictions on the movement of pigs for many years. Any proposal to retain licensing for other animal movements would need to balance carefully the needs of the livestock industry and the inherent disease control risks associated with animal movements.

Foot and Mouth

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the amount of FMD vaccine (a) held in the UK and (b) available from elsewhere in Europe.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 2 November 2001
	As at the end of October, the Government's commercial supplies of a suitable vaccine to protect against the current strain of FMD virus would be sufficient to vaccinate at least 2.5 million animals. The exact number of doses needed per animal depends on the potency of the final vaccine, the number of doses given and the length of time we wish the animals to be protected. Stocks were increased and kept up to date as part of our vaccination contingency plans.
	We also have access to some of the estimated 6 million doses of the relevant vaccine held in the European vaccine bank. We placed a reserve on 125,000 doses in April 2001 as a precautionary measure.

Foot and Mouth

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the (a) number and (b) value of contracts (i) negotiated and (ii) yet to be negotiated in relation to (A) cleansing and (B) restocking following infection of the foot and mouth disease.

Elliot Morley: Secondary cleansing and disinfection work required to be undertaken under contracts agreed with contractors and farmers has now been completed on about 5,300 premises. A further 1,400 premises which are subject to similar contractual arrangements are undergoing cleansing and disinfection at present, with another 210 still to be started.
	The cost of carrying out contracted work on cleansing and disinfection, based on completed, continuing and a small number of premises still to be started, is estimated to be about 250 million.
	Restocking of premises is a matter for the individual owner of the premises and stock and no contractual information is available.

Foot and Mouth

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to lift the three kilometre D notice in the infected area in Leominster.

Elliot Morley: There have been no infected premises within 10 kilometres of Leominster and therefore there are no three kilometre D notice restrictions in place around Leominster. All protection zone restrictions in Herefordshire have been lifted; the last was lifted on 21 August. However, there is currently sampling and testing of the premises in the three to 10 kilometre surveillance zones in Herefordshire and until this has been completed satisfactorily, the county remains at at risk status.

Foot and Mouth

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what is the total number of animals, by species, slaughtered under the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme since 19 February.

Elliot Morley: The Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme was opened on 22 March 2001, to deal with severe welfare problems arising from the foot and mouth disease movement restrictions that cannot be dealt with by any other means. As at 7 November, the Livestock Welfare (Disposal) Scheme had dealt with a total of 1,929,891 animals since it opened. Of these, 1,481,049 were sheep (76.7 per cent.), 279,126 were pigs (14.5 per cent.), 166,531 were cattle (8.6 per cent.) and 3,185 were other species (0.2 per cent.).

Chernobyl

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many sheep, on how many farms, are subject to restrictions resulting from the fallout of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, broken down by region.

Hazel Blears: I have been asked to reply.
	The table shows the current numbers of farms and sheep remaining under restrictions arising from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. The figures are presented for England, Wales and Scotland. The last restrictions in place in Northern Ireland were removed in April 2000.
	
		
			  Farms Sheep 
		
		
			 England 9 11,500 
			 Wales 359 180,000 
			 Scotland 18 38,000 
			  
			 Total 386 229,500

Crustastun

Tony Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support her Department is giving to Bristol University and to Silsoe Research Institute in Bedford for the development of the Crustastun.

Elliot Morley: I have been advised that DEFRA is not supporting the development of Crustastun which is a trade name. DEFRA has supported link projects looking at the use of electric stunning for farmed fish.

Litter

Bob Blizzard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the annual cost of clearing up litter in the UK in each of the last three years.

Michael Meacher: The Government do not keep consolidated data on how much each local authority spends on litter removal annually. A recent estimate by the Tidy Britain Group suggests that total annual expenditure on litter removal in England is about 370 million.

Rural Recovery Programme

Colin Breed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of the money committed to rural businesses as part of the rural recovery programme following the FMD crisis has been allotted.

Alun Michael: All of the 27 million allocated as direct grants to business in May has been committed. Some 21 million has already been approved for payment. Payment is made as soon as possible after a claim is submitted, subject to the usual checks, and it is expected that the full allocation will be used. The submission of a claim depends on the individual business which has received grant approval depending on individual RDA/ Business Link procedures.

Computer Crime

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cases of computer (a) hacking, (b) fraud and (c) theft her Department recorded in (i) 2000 and (ii) 2001; and on how many occasions in those years computer systems have been illegally accessed by computer hackers (A) within and (B) outside his Department.

Elliot Morley: There were no cases of computer hacking detected for 2000 and two cases in 2001, to date, perpetrated by persons outside the Department. There were no cases of fraud detected during the same period. The number of computer thefts detected was 19 in 2000 (15 by insiders and the remainder by persons outside the Department) and 16 in 2001, to date, (15 by insiders and the remainder by persons outside the Department). Figures for 2000 and until 11 June 2001 relate to Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and after that date to Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Energy Efficiency

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list those members of the Carbon Trust Board who represent (a) the energy supply industry, (b) the energy efficiency industry, (c) local government and (d) the rest of the public sector.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 8 November 2001
	For a full list of Carbon Trust Board Members, I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to him on 5 November 2001, Official Report, column 3637W. Appointments to the Carbon Trust Board are a matter for the Chairman and the Board. However, Government non-executive directors are appointed to represent the public interest and the interests of their respective Departments and Devolved Administrations.
	The independent non-executive directors are appointed on a personal basis and not to represent any particular interest. The aim is to bring the right balance of skills and experience to the strategic direction of the company. The executive team and work programme of the Carbon Trust will be developed to address operational or sectoral needs. In addition the Carbon Trust will be establishing stakeholder advisory groups to establish dialogue with and represent the interests of particular groups.

Energy Efficiency

Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what was the total level of Government financial support made available to energy efficiency measures in each year since 1990.

Michael Meacher: holding answer 7 November 2001
	The funding made available by the Department and its predecessors to support and promote efficiency measures in each year since 1990 is as follows:
	
		
			 Year  million 
		
		
			 199091 18.4 
			 199192 39.3 
			 199293 49.4 
			 199394 60.3 
			 199495 102.7 
			 199596 128.5 
			 199697 116.0 
			 199798 110.5 
			 199899 109.0 
			 19992000 112.0 
			 200001 (26)163.5 
		
	
	(26) Estimated
	The core of this spend is the Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme, support for the Energy Saving Trust and the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme. Energy Saving Trust funding for Scotland was devolved from 1 July 1999. Between 199199, the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme covered the whole of Great Britain. In July 1999 and April 2000, separate programmes were set up in Scotland and Wales respectively. For these devolved areas, it is the responsibility of the respective Parliaments and Assemblies to comment on the funding situation.

AAPS

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will draw down the EU share, and pay the UK share, of the (a) first and (b) second tranche of aid on AAPS 2000 payments before 31 October.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 23 October 2001
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound) on 31 October 2001, Official Report, column 738W.

Livestock Disease Prevention

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the future viability of livestock markets in England and Wales; and what steps she has taken to provide financial assistance for the additional costs involved in implementing extra disease prevention measures.

Elliot Morley: The Department's immediate priority is to eradicate foot and mouth disease. We have not made a formal assessment of the longer term viability of livestock markets. However, there will be a need to consider the extent to which the movement of animals through markets contributed to the spread of the disease.
	There are no plans to provide financial assistance to livestock markets for the costs incurred in relation to biosecurity arrangements. Livestock markets are legally required to carry out cleansing and disinfection at the conclusion of each market and must therefore bear these costs themselves.

Animal Welfare

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will commission a study on the efficacy of marketing animals (a) over the internet and (b) via video link in reducing (i) the cost, (ii) animal suffering and (iii) infection risks of livestock markets.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 2 November 2001
	It is for farmers to decide how best to market their animals, taking account of costs and animal health and welfare requirements. We are aware of various initiatives by auctioneers to hold video and internet sales and that these have met with a degree of success. Such initiatives are to be welcomed as they provide another option for farmers to market their animals and we will watch developments with interest.

Animal Welfare

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what response her Department has made to the European Commission's proposal to reclassify medicines for food-producing animals as prescription-only medicines; and what assessment she has made of the consequence for (a) animal health and (b) the agricultural and equine veterinary medicine supply industry.

Elliot Morley: This proposal forms part of a much wider set of proposals produced by the European Commission to amend the procedures for the authorisation and control of both human and veterinary medicines in the EU. In its present form this particular proposal could result in UK farmers having to pay more by incurring veterinary surgeons' fees when obtaining those medicines that are currently available without veterinary intervention. This may deter farmers from seeking appropriate treatment. Furthermore, the proposal could restrict the number and types of veterinary medicines that may be supplied by registered agricultural merchants and saddlers, to a limited range of products for dogs and cats. This could have significant adverse effects on those businesses.
	In considering the proposal the Government have taken account of its likely impact on the supply of veterinary medicines and has agreed that, during negotiations, UK officials should seek to modify the proposal to enable a flexible approach to the distribution of veterinary medicinal products that takes advantage of existing national practices, so long as consumer protection and animal welfare can be demonstrably assured.

Animal Welfare

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessments she has made of the proposals by the European Commission that medicines for food-producing animals will become prescription only medicines; and if she will make a statement on the consequences of this proposal for rural agricultural businesses.

Elliot Morley: This proposal forms part of a much wider set of proposals produced by the European Commission to amend the procedures for the authorisation and control of both human and veterinary medicines in the EU. In its present form this particular proposal could result in UK farmers having to pay more by incurring veterinary surgeons' fees when obtaining those medicines that are currently available without veterinary intervention. Furthermore, it could restrict the number and types of veterinary medicines that may be supplied by registered agricultural merchants and saddlers, to a limited range of products for dogs and cats. This could have significant adverse effects on those businesses.
	In considering the proposal the Government have taken account of its likely impact on the supply of veterinary medicines and has agreed that, during negotiations, UK officials should seek to modify the proposal to enable a flexible approach to the distribution of veterinary medicinal products that takes advantage of existing national practices, so long as consumer protection and animal welfare can be demonstrably assured.

Compensation (Tuna Fishermen)

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received regarding compensation for UK fishermen who (a) have had and (b) will have their tuna drift net licences withdrawn.

Elliot Morley: I have received one such representation this year.

Recycling (Refrigerators)

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the cost to local authorities involved in storing refrigerators and deep-freezers awaiting recycling (a) by each local authority area and (b) in total.

Michael Meacher: The costs of storage will be affected by a range of factors, in particular the environmental protection standards that are set for storage facilities. This Department has been working with stakeholders to assess the appropriate standards for storage of waste refrigeration equipment and will finalise this guidance shortly. We will monitor the costs of such storage over the next few months.

Farm Business Advisory Services

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the waiting time is for access to the three-day farm business advisory services for farmers in (a) England and (b) the west midlands.

Alun Michael: Waiting lists vary across regions and it is not possible to provide a future for England. The waiting list in the west midlands region is currently open ended. To ease waiting lists we have switched 1.5 million of funding from the five-day enhanced service to the three-day service allowing demand for both services to be met. This will reduce waiting times considerably. The west midlands region anticipate that their three-day waiting list will be cleared within five weeks.

Farming (Diversification)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding is available to farmers to diversify into tourism outside objective 1 areas.

Alun Michael: Outside objective 1 areas, the main source of Government funding for farmers wishing to diversify into rural tourism is the Rural Enterprise Scheme. Rural tourism is a high national priority within the suite of measures supported by RES. The proportion of the 152 million RES budget allocated to rural tourism, like all other measures under the scheme, is determined at the regional level in the light of consultation with local stakeholders. DEFRA also offers assistance in the form of free planning consultancy advice to farmers who intend to pursue an eligible RES diversification project, which may include diversification into rural tourism. The RES is not available in objective 1 areas but equivalent funds are available through the objective 1 Programme for each area. Other funding for farm-based tourism projects which utilise existing farm buildings is available from Regional Development agencies in the form of redundant building grant.

Flooding

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the steps taken by the public bodies involved to reduce the risk of flooding in the south of Worcestershire since the Easter 1998 floods; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: A number of measures have been taken to reduce the risk of flooding in this area since 1998.
	Liaison between the Environment Agency, local authorities and emergency services has been considerably strengthened, including a flood emergency exercise conducted in the Upper Severn area.
	The south Worcestershire area has also benefited from enhancements to the Environment Agency's Flood Warning service and the national flood awareness campaigns conducted annually. Every property on the 'at-risk' database has been sent flooding information and everyone within telephone Flood Warning service areas has been invited to receive warnings.
	The Environment Agency have been investigating flood defence options at five locations which suffered flooding Easter 1998 floods and, where sustainable, works to alleviate flooding have been carried out, or are planned. A new rain gauge has also been installed at Hindlip.

Flooding

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures the Government have taken to reduce the risk of flooding to one in 100 in high risk areas.

Elliot Morley: I am reducing the risk of flooding by investing in effective flood warning arrangements and flood defences in the highest risk areas. Funding for the Department's programme is increasing from 66 million 200001 to 114 million in 200304.
	This Department provides funding to the Environment Agency, local authorities and Internal Drainage Boards for capital flood and coastal works that meet certain criteria. Responsibility for deciding which projects to promote and their timing rests with the operating authorities. The operating authority draws on its local knowledge of the area when deciding what needs to be done, including the design standard of protection within the economic justification of the project.

Flooding

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will provide funding for a flood defence scheme in Milby and Langthorpe.

Elliot Morley: I understand that the Environment Agency's initial assessment for a flood alleviation scheme in Milby and Langthorpe suggests that it cannot be justified economically. However, if the agency decides to promote a scheme, they can submit an application for grant aid to this Department. Such an application would be considered against our normal criteria for funding flood defences.

Flooding

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what preventive measures she has taken to ensure that the Ouse does not flood as a result of rivers to the north flowing into it.

Elliot Morley: Operational responsibility for flood alleviation measures rests with local operating authorities, namely the Environment Agency, Internal Drainage Boards and local councils.
	I understand that the Environment Agency's preliminary strategic review for the River Ouse catchment is due for completion early in 2002. The findings of this strategy will inform the agency's plans for a prioritised programme of feasibility and capital works in the catchment, including any for rivers flowing into the River Ouse from the north.

Flooding

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if she will provide funding towards construction of a land drainage pumping station in Rawcliffe;
	(2)  what measures she has taken to ensure that Blue Beck in Rawcliffe does not flood and that run-off water will be diverted away from local homeowners.

Elliot Morley: Operational responsibility for flood alleviation measures rests with local operating authorities, namely the Environment Agency, internal drainage boards and local councils.
	The Kyle and Ouse Internal Drainage Board is responsible for the Blue Beck and has commissioned consultants to examine how flood risk can be reduced, including an assessment of the justification of pumping facilities. If the board decides to promote works, they can submit an application for grant aid to this Department. Such an application would be considered against our normal criteria for funding flood defences.

Flooding

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on flood (a) warning and (b) prevention arrangements.

Elliot Morley: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 15 October 2001, Official Report, column 1095W.

Livestock Movements

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she plans to take to enable livestock to reach their winter accommodation before winter weather sets in.

Elliot Morley: The Department introduced livestock movement arrangements for the autumn on 17 September, in consultation with a wide range of interested parties. The scheme rules have been kept under constant review in light of the changing disease situation across the country and are designed to allow the maximum movement compatible with eradicating foot and mouth disease. Detailed information on the autumn movements arrangements have been placed on the DEFRA website http://www.defra.gov.uk/. A movement licence helpline is also available on 01392 314941 and is open from 8:3017:30 on weekdays and 9:0013.00 on Saturdays.

Livestock Movements

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received relating to her Department's advice to farmers on the licensing provisions for livestock movements.

Elliot Morley: The Department has received a range of representations concerning the operation of the autumn livestock movement arrangements. Advice on licensing arrangements has been made available to farmers through leaflets, the DEFRA website and the movement licence helpline. My noble Friend Lord Whitty sent a detailed letter to all livestock farmers in England and Wales about the arrangements on 11 September. We have consulted regularly with stakeholders ever since the licensing scheme was introduced and we are always ready to consider suggestions for improving the way in which we disseminate information to farmers.

Livestock Movements

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of animals over 30 months old which have not been transported owing to movement restrictions; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 5 November 2001
	This information is not currently available. However, I have asked the British Cattle Movement Service to consider whether they can provide statistical information on the movement of over 30 month cattle, registered on the Cattle Tracing System. I will write to the hon. Member with more information as soon as possible.

Livestock Movements

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what investigations she has carried out into her Department's animal health division with respect to the delay in the granting of movement licences; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 5 November 2001
	The Autumn Movement Arrangements were introduced in three phases between 17 September and 1 October. The licensing system is dependent upon a database, which gave rise to a number of difficulties. My officials worked, and continue to work, very closely with local authorities and the livestock industry to resolve these difficulties, and I am satisfied that the arrangements are now operating satisfactorily.
	The permitted range of movements under the Autumn Movement Arrangements is kept under review in the light of the developing disease situation.

Animal Health Act

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she plans to propose amendments to the Animal Health Act 1981 to give the Government powers to seize and destroy any animal; what right of appeal will be proposed; and what assessment she has made of compatibility with the Human Rights Act 1998.

Elliot Morley: The Animal Health Bill currently before Parliament does not give Ministers power to seize and destroy any animal. It provides for the Minister to cause animals to be slaughtered with a view to preventing the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD). The term animal is defined in the 1981 Act and the Foot and Mouth Disease Order and the definition of animals for these purposes is restricted to FMD-susceptible animals.
	In addition, the Bill contains provisions to extend such powers to other diseases, by Affirmative Resolution Order.
	The two avenues of appeal against slaughter that are currently available remain unaffected. These are the ability to ask the local Divisional Veterinary Manager to review the case and to seek judicial review.
	Under the scrapie provisions, the Bill provides for Ministers to issue restriction notices requiring that genetically susceptible sheep should be either castrated (or sterilised) or slaughtered by their keepers/owners, and for Ministers to enforce these provision in the event of non-compliance. Appeals against a restriction notice could be made to an independent assessor.
	In my view these provisions, and all others in the Bill, are compatible with the convention rights for the purpose of the Human Rights Act 1998.

Farm Study (Shropshire)

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if a decision has been made to grant a cash contribution to Shropshire county council's Farm Study for Shropshire.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 6 November 2001
	DEFRA has made a financial contribution to the Shropshire Farm Study via English Nature and the Countryside Agency. Our regional Rural Development Service staff based on Worcester have also provided technical assistance.

Live Animal Exports

David Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure that once the foot and mouth disease export restrictions have been lifted UK animals exported under licence to France and the Netherlands are not then re-exported to southern European countries.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 9 November 2001
	Animals are not exported under licence although there is EU legislation covering the animal health requirements that must be met before animals move within the Community and the veterinary checks that must take place. EU rules governing animal welfare during intra-community trade in cattle, sheep and pigs lay down specific requirements which must be met during any journey. We enforce these rules rigorously within our jurisdiction. When a journey starts in another member state it is the responsibility of the authorities in that member state to ensure compliance with animal health and animal welfare requirements.

Live Animal Exports

David Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make representations to other EU countries to end the payment of export refunds on the export of live cattle from the EU to the middle east and North Africa.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 9 November 2001
	Export refunds on live cattle exports to Third Countries are a component of the EU's market management measures for the beef sector. No refunds are paid in respect of trade from the UK because of the BSE-related export ban. Nevertheless, a number of member states, the UK included, wish to address the continuing animal welfare problems with this trade.
	We have always maintained the UK's preference for a trade in meat rather than live animals. This view was reflected in the Council Resolution on the protection of animals during transport adopted at the June Council. The Resolution not only invited the Commission to produce recommendations to improve implementation and control of current EU animal welfare legislation, but also to report on options for reducing long distance transport of animals for slaughter. We hope the Commission produce their proposals and report soon.

EU Agrimonetary Compensation

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Government will claim the available EU agrimonetary compensation for arable farmers before 31 October.

Elliot Morley: holding answer 23 October 2001
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound) on 31 October 2001, Official Report, column 738W.

Dioxins

Jonathan Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many maximum tolerable daily doses of dioxin, as defined by the WHO, 1.1g represents.

Michael Meacher: In June 2001, the Joint Food and Agriculture Organisation/World Health Organisation (WHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) proposed a provisional tolerable monthly intake of 70 picograms (pg) WHO toxicity equivalents (WHO-TEQ) per kilogram (kg) bodyweight for dioxins (that is polychlorinated dibenzo-p-doxins, polyclorinated dibenzofurans, and dioxin-like polychlorinated bephenyls). For an adult weighing 70 kilograms, this corresponds to a tolerable daily intake of approximately 160 pg. 1.1 g is 6,875 million times 160 pg.
	The 1.1 g figure which I quoted in my earlier response (23 October 2001) represents the emissions of dioxins and furans from municipal solid waste incinerators during 2000. This figure does not refer to human intake so it is not appropriate to make such a comparison with the TDI.
	The most recent (1997) estimate of average daily intakes for adults in the UK is 1.8 pg WHO-TEQ per kilogram bodyweight, which (for an adult weighing 70 kg) corresponds to an average daily intake of approximately 130 pg.
	The Government believe there is a strong case for reducing emissions to the environment further, and my Department will shortly be consulting on measures to achieve this.

Scrapie

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to bring forward legislation to provide for compulsory powers to cull sheep from flocks possessing the genotype susceptible to scrapie.

Elliot Morley: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for East Surrey (Mr. Ainsworth) on 5 November 2001, Official Report, column 30W.

Imports

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the volume of (a) food imports and (b) agricultural imports into the United Kingdom in the last three years.

Elliot Morley: It is not meaningful to combine volumes of different types of products. The table therefore shows the value of UK imports of food and agricultural products between 1998 and 2000.
	More detailed information on food and agricultural imports, including volumes, can be found at the DEFRA website (www.defra.gov.uk/esg/workhtm/index/ trade.htm and click on the link to UK trade data in food, feed and drink including indigenity and degree of processing).
	
		Food and agricultural imports 19982000 -- Values in  million
		
			 Group  Category 1998 1999 2000 
		
		
			 Live animals Pigs 9.9 10.0 13.5 
			  Sheep and goats 3.6 4.5 6.8 
			  Poultry 4.7 5.5 5.3 
			  Bovine animals 3.9 2.3 3.6 
			 Live animals Total  22.2 22.4 29.1 
			  
			 Meat Poultrymeat (inc poultry offal) 523.6 546.7 540.8 
			  Other meat products 381.1 407.8 473.8 
			  Beef and veal 395.7 431.8 461.0 
			  Bacon and ham 375.8 398.9 456.4 
			  Pork 178.0 215.4 275.2 
			  Lamb and mutton 203.8 194.3 199.6 
			 Meat Total  2,058.0 2,194.9 2,406.7 
			  
			 Dairy Products and Eggs Cheese 611.9 630.1 601.0 
			  Butter 210.1 230.3 234.8 
			  Yogurt and ice cream 150.1 158.1 173.4 
			  Eggs and egg products 30.6 31.6 43.6 
			  Milk and cream 59.6 47.4 41.7 
			  Other milk products 38.3 39.5 40.9 
			  Milk powder 32.3 38.2 37.6 
			  Condensed milk 12.1 12.1 16.6 
			 Dairy Products and Eggs Total  1,144.9 1,187.4 1,189.6 
			  
			 Fish Fish fresh, chilled or frozen 543.5 589.2 612.3 
			  Crustaceans 360.1 355.9 403.3 
			  Fish and crustaceans prepared or preserved 378.6 340.4 306.6 
			  Fish live 16.5 17.2 16.1 
			 Fish Total  1,298.8 1,302.7 1,338.3 
			  
			 Cereals Bread and biscuits 445.3 442.6 445.6 
			  Unmilled cereals 312.5 286.8 286.1 
			  Rice 173.5 178.8 152.6 
			  Mixes and doughs for baking 122.8 129.3 112.5 
			  Milled, rolled or flaked cereals 98.3 97.1 101.3 
			 Cereals Total  1,152.5 1,134.7 1,098.1 
			  
			 Vegetables and Fruit Fresh fruit 1,653.0 1,572.6 1,531.7 
			  Vegetables, fresh or chilled 1,071.1 1,053.4 1,090.4 
			  Vegetables, frozen, prepared or preserved 758.4 816.4 715.4 
			  Jams 306.4 290.3 274.7 
			  Fruit juice 268.8 285.3 250.3 
			  Nuts 111.0 115.4 117.7 
			 Vegetables and Fruit Total  4,168.7 4,133.4 3,980.2 
			  
			 Sugars Sugar 627.3 583.6 542.1 
			  Sugar confectionary 130.0 141.6 153.5 
			  Honey 21.0 16.1 16.4 
			 Sugars Total  778.3 741.2 712.0 
			  
			 Coffee, Tea etc. Chocolate 332.1 377.5 387.8 
			  Coffee 385.9 296.8 280.8 
			  Tea 225.9 204.2 211.3 
			  Cocoa 298.6 301.6 159.6 
			  Spices 57.2 54.6 64.0 
			 Coffee, Tea, etc. Total  1,299.7 1,234.7 1,103.6 
			 Animal Feed Oil cake 250.1 256.6 255.2 
			  Other animal feed 290.1 231.3 254.6 
			  Dog or cat food 159.9 161.8 194.8 
			 Animal Feed Total  700.2 649.6 704.7 
			 Miscellaneous Total  912.8 963.5 829.0 
			  
			 Beverages Wine 1,763.0 1,918.3 1,688.5 
			  Other spirits 279.9 282.2 364.9 
			  Mineral water 187.3 268.3 289.5 
			  Beer 315.2 310.1 283.4 
			  Whisky 50.8 49.5 56.8 
			  Cider and other fermented beverages 26.6 26.0 23.4 
			 Beverages Total  2,622.7 2,854.5 2,706.4 
			  
			 Oils and Fats Vegetable oils and fats 755.8 672.6 604.8 
			  Processed fats and waxes 89.2 84.2 95.3 
			  Animal oils and fats, not chemically modified 73.2 60.5 59.7 
			 Oils and Fats Total  918.2 817.2 759.8 
			 Total Imports  17,076.9 17,236.2 16,857.5 
		
	
	Source:
	HM Customs and Excise

Tenanted Farms

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the future viability of local authorities' tenanted farms.

Elliot Morley: The 47th Annual Report to Parliament on Smallholdings in England was published in 1999. This report which is available in the Library of the House, covered the period to 31 March 1997. This showed that the total expenditure in the year to 31 March 1997, by local authorities with smallholdings, was 16.9 million and total income in the same period was 25.3 million. The Department also conducts an annual survey of tenanted land although this does not separately identify local authority tenanted farms.
	We have also commissioned work to establish the role local authority tenanted farms play in providing farming lets to new entrants. A preliminary assessment of the impact of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 was conducted by the University of Plymouth in 1997. This indicated that county smallholdings play an important but reducing role in providing farming lets to new entrants. A full policy evaluation of the 1995 Act is currently under way and this explores this area further. This work should be completed in early 2002.

Ragwort

Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many horses have died from ingesting ragwort in each of the last 10 years.

Elliot Morley: This information is not collected by the Department. However I can confirm that where agricultural land, or land used by farmers who have diversified into equine enterprises, is threatened by the spread of injurious weeds such as ragwort the Department will continue to investigate any complaints received. We will also use our links with other organisations such as the British Horse Society to ensure horse owners are aware of the dangers of ragwort.

PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL

Legislation

John Taylor: To ask the President of the Council how many (a) Budgets have been introduced and (b) Government sponsored Bills have reached the statute book since 1997.

Robin Cook: The information requested is as follows(a) Five and (b) 140.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

World Summit on Sustainable Development

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what measures she is taking to ensure that water and sanitation issues are considered by the world summit on sustainable development; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Meacher: I have been asked to reply.
	To ensure that the UK views on water and sanitation are considered at the world summit on sustainable development (WSSD), I led the UK delegation to United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in Geneva in September. UNECE is the regional preparatory conference at which items for inclusion in WSSD are discussed. The conference agreed that WSSD should develop specific initiatives, building on work undertaken since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, in areas such as freshwater and sanitation.
	In December this year I will be leading the UK delegation to the International Conference on Freshwater in Bonn at which water and sanitation issues will be further discussed. The discussions at the Bonn conference will be reported to the second preparatory committee for the world summit on sustainable development.